MIT researchers have created a new computing platform that could be used to develop intelligent and adaptive next-generation electronics that can simultaneously perform multiple functions, like computing and memory, all within one extremely compact, energy-efficient device.

Such a platform opens opportunities for low-power edge computing applications, interactive medical and environmental monitoring systems, and smart robots.

The researchers accomplished this by leveraging the unique mechanical response of soft polymers at the nanoscale. A mechanical response is how a structure changes when a force is applied to it.