Electrostatic self-assembly, however, coats every exposed surface of an object, and does it at room temperature.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

When heated to a high temperature, the bath gives off a mist of atoms that fall on to the surface of the object.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

The laser would only singe the surface of an object in space, but that tiny burn could still help point it downward, Dr. Campbell says.

WSJ: A Cosmic Question: How to Get Rid Of All That Orbiting Space Junk?

This takes pictures of the surface of an object.

ECONOMIST: Connectomics aims to map the atlas of the brain

In other words, you're looking at a future in which robotic hands interpret the nuances of a surface or gripped object akin to a human fingertip and artificial skin senses touch similar to the way tiny hairs on an arm do.

ENGADGET

And we had never landed - soft-landed an object on the surface of Mars, and there was no textbook.

NPR: Revisiting the Viking Missions to Mars

Sensors can analyse the surface of materials and, using the amount of resistance they show, work out the force to apply to an object.

ECONOMIST: Robots: Nothing to lose but their chains | The