The last few decades have witnessed unprecedented convergence between humans and machines that closely operate around the human body. Despite these advances, traditional machines made of hard, dry and abiotic materials are substantially dissimilar to soft, wet and living biological tissues. This dissimilarity results in severe limitations for long-term, reliable and highly efficient interfacing between humans and machines. To bridge this gap, hydrogels have emerged as an ideal material candidate for interfacing between humans and machines owing to their mechanical and chemical similarities to biological tissues and the versatility and flexibility in designing their properties. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive summary of functional modes, design principles, and current and future applications for hydrogel interfaces towards merging humans and machines.

在过去的几十年里，人类与围绕人体紧密运行的机器之间出现了前所未有的融合。尽管取得了这些进步，但由坚硬、干燥和非生物材料制成的传统机器与柔软、潮湿和有生命的生物组织大不相同。这种差异导致人与机器之间长期、可靠和高效的接口受到严重限制。为了弥合这一差距，水凝胶已成为人机交互的理想材料候选者，因为它们与生物组织的机械和化学相似性以及设计其特性的多功能性和灵活性。在这篇评论中，我们对功能模式、设计原则、