As soft interfaces become central to robotics, wearables, and human–machine interaction, a persistent challenge is to sense touch with high fidelity while keeping devices simple, robust, and negligible power requirement at the sensitive element. Herein, we report a soft mechanoluminescent (ML) tactile sensor converting force directly into light for imaging-based readout, integrating a thin, three-layer ML-skin with a CMOS module. Under mechanical stimulation, BaTiO3 inclusions intensify local piezoelectric fields to excite ZnS:Cu emitters, producing light without electrical bias, pixel wiring, or external illumination. This optical transduction provides intrinsic electrical isolation while enabling scalable, high-density spatial mapping, where resolution is defined by optics rather than electrode routing. Coupled to a 640 × 480, 30 Hz CMOS array, the ML-sensor achieves a sensitivity of 27.5 N− 1 , a 30 ms response time, ∼ 80 μm spatial resolution, and stable operation for over 8000 cycles. Furthermore, MLsensor enables real-time handwriting recognition and human–machine interaction, demonstrating its potential as a natural tactile interface. By merging force-to-light conversion with a minimal device stack and vision-native readout, this work outlines a pathway to energy-efficient, conformal touch interfaces scalable across next-generation soft electronics and interactive systems.
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