Thanks! About the problem: classic academic paper issue. Needs to be framed in a way so it might work for a paper. A lot of the original idea is shaved off, does not work, is not straightforward to explain, etc. and in the end it looks a bit like a solution without a problem.
Original intention was to present a touch-sensitive lens cap for tangible interaction with (old) non-touchscreen devices. Soft robotics is not my research field, but they might be the ones that could use something similar.
Solely the cost the materials is about 2 USD when bought in small quantities, but I am using the least expensive clear silicone. Buying the expensive stuff (Smooth-On's Solaris for example) is about 2x-3x the cost but available in much larger quantities.
I look forward to someone cloning this, driving down the cost, and putting it on crowsupply/sparkfun or somewhere. (I mean that as praise, not malice.)
I assume decent results can be achieved with a super-cheap camera module, if the optics are a good match to the silicone part.
Most work was done as a part of my day job. It took about half a year. Significant amount of that time is for writing an academic paper. Same content as the blog post, 10x less readers, 10x more time...
