Researchers have covered a smartphone with life-like, touch-sensitive artificial skin, seeing how users respond to it.

Researchers say there are no plans to market the skin, rather it is designed to allow us to study our responses to such a life-like outer coating on an electronic device.

They say the skin will allow new forms of input gestures for the users of interactive devices like smartphones and laptops with touchpads.

The team of researchers at Bristol Interaction Group includes Marc Teyssier, who previously invented a robot finger that attaches to your mobile phone.

It can wriggle across your desk and stroke your hand.

The PhD student said the MobiLimb robotic finger was testbed to see how we can bring touch in human-computer interfaces.