A robotic hand that is capable of grasping objects as fragile as potato chips and raspberries without crushing them. It links advanced tactile sensing with soft robotics and has potential to improve robot performance when a light touch is needed, including health care and manufacturing. FORTE’s fingers draw inspiration from the fin-ray effect, a design principle found in fish fins. Built using advanced 3D-printing methods, they boast internal, empty air channels that act as tactile sensors. Once the fingers approach an object to grasp it, the air channels inside them shift. This causes air pressure changes, that, in turn, get detected by small, off-the-shelf sensors that give the hand real-time force feedback, and allows it to detect if the object is slipping.