Wearable electronics that adapt to three-dimensional (3D) surfaces are essential for next-generation smart internet of things (IoT), yet existing strategies remain limited because of fabrication complexity, material incompatibility, or poor structural control. Here, this work introduces a scalable yet versatile approach to design and fabricate 3D electronic systems by printing liquid metal patterns onto heat-shrinkable polymer substrates. Upon controlled thermal actuation, the 2D circuits transform into target 3D geometries with enhanced electrical performance. The resulting 3D shrinking electronics enable conformal antenna integration for IoT devices and gesture-interactive wearable interfaces. This low-cost, versatile platform offers a paradigm for customizable, shape-adaptive electronics in intelligent real and virtual environments.
Yuan et al. (2025) studied this question.