The National Initiative for RNA Biology and its Applications (NIRBA) officially opened its new Hub at the National University of Singapore (NUS) today, marking a significant milestone in Singapore’s efforts to strengthen its capabilities in RNA science and accelerate the translation of research into healthcare, economic and societal impact.

The opening ceremony was officiated by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF), and attended by leaders from academia, research institutions, industry and government agencies. Serving as the focal point of NIRBA’s hub-and-spoke model, the Hub will unite researchers, clinicians, technology platforms and industry partners to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and accelerate innovation in RNA science.

As intelligent electronics become increasingly integrated into daily life, health care, virtual interaction, and assistive systems, human–machine interfaces (HMIs) require sensing platforms that are not only wearable and self-powered but also capable of translating human signals into adaptive machine functions. Triboelectric wearable sensors are particularly attractive in this regard because they directly transduce human-generated mechanical stimuli, provide broad material and structural design freedom, and are readily adaptable to body-interfaced formats. In this review, wearability refers to body-mounted, skin-interfaced, textile-integrated, or otherwise human-attached triboelectric sensing platforms, whereas human-centric smart electronics refers to downstream electronic systems that remain functionally anchored to human-originated sensing, interpretation, feedback, or control. From this perspective, we review triboelectric wearable sensors from fundamentals to applications, covering working principles, material selection, device architectures, and fabrication strategies. We further discuss artificial intelligence-assisted signal processing, triboelectric artificial synapses, and neuromorphic computing as key bridges from self-powered sensing to intelligent HMI. Representative application spaces, including health care, gesture recognition, device control, immersive virtual interaction, wearable-to-robotic extensions, and intelligent transportation are discussed only when wearable triboelectric sensing serves as the primary human–input interface. Finally, the remaining challenges and future directions toward next-generation human-centric smart electronics are outlined.