Monolithic and scalable capacitive electrodes leveraging parasitic capacitance for full-body pressure mapping

Scaling capacitive pressure sensor arrays to large areas remains challenging due to electrode alignment errors, fabrication complexity, and limited dynamic range inherent in conventional parallel-plate architectures. Here, we present a scalable capacitive pressure sensor array based on a monolithic electrode architecture, where transmitter and receiver electrodes are co-integrated into a single substrate. A deformable dielectric and a floating ground (GND) layer are positioned above, eliminating alignment errors and reducing the layer-stacking process by 20%. The parasitic capacitance between the electrodes and GND layer is intentionally incorporated into the sensing mechanism, enabling stable pressure detection with effective electromagnetic interference shielding. The resulting 2911-cell array (1.7 m by 1.0 m) achieves 30 Hz full-body pressure mapping with high linearity (R² = 0.994). Demonstrations in sleep posture classification, pressure injury prevention, and exercise monitoring validate the platform's versatility for healthcare and human-machine interfaces.