Stanford engineers create artificial skin that can send pressure sensation to
  brain cell
From: Bao Research

Stanford engineers have created a plastic "skin" that can detect how hard it
is being pressed and generate an electric signal to deliver this sensory
input directly to a living brain cell.

Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford, has spent a
decade trying to develop a material that mimics skin's ability to flex and
heal, while also serving as the sensor net that sends touch, temperature and
pain signals to the brain. Ultimately she wants to create a flexible
electronic fabric embedded with sensors that could cover a prosthetic limb
and replicate some of skin's sensory functions.

Read the entire article at:
https://baogroup.stanford.edu/index.php/research-highlights/361-stanford-engineers-create-artificial-skin-that-can-send-pressure-sensation-to-brain-cell

Links:
Stanford researchers create artificial skin that senses touch (with video
  2:22)
http://abc7news.com/health/stanford-researchers-create-artificial-skin-that-senses-touch/1155174

Artificial skin could give prosthetics a sense of touch
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/artificial-skin-could-give-prosthetics-a-sense-of-touch

Electronic Skin May Someday Restore Touch
http://abc7news.com/archive/7934023

The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design
  Considerations, and Recent Progress
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201302240/abstract