Skin-like blind-spot-free tactile sensing via phase-programmable multimode liquid metal pressure sensors

Human skin senses pressures from gentle touch (~100 Pa) to forceful grip (~600 kPa) while remaining sensitive under load. Yet replicating this capability synthetically remains challenging: conventional pressure sensors suffer from trade-offs between sensitivity and dynamic range, whereas tunable sensors exhibit restricted ranges or blind spots at intermediate pressures. Here, we report a thermally switchable, multi-mode adaptable pressure sensor (MAPS) enabling continuous, blind-spot-free sensing from ~2 Pa to 1.6 MPa. MAPS integrates multiple liquid metals with distinct melting points, producing four programmable sensing modes via phase transitions. Fully liquid and solid states respectively maximize sensitivity and measurable range, while mixed-phase states preserve high sensitivity under moderate pressures. Integrated into a smart glove, MAPS captures signals spanning delicate pulses, grip-level forces, and extreme loads. Critically, reliable pulse detection under loads confirms load-tolerant, blind-spot-free operation. MAPS establishes a generalizable multi-mode sensing platform that overcomes trade-offs between sensitivity and dynamic range in pressure sensors.