Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets are improving, allowing for more engaging and immersive digital experiences. Engineers have been working to develop better systems that generate tactile and haptic input that matches virtual information in order to make VR and AR experiences even more realistic.
WeTac, a miniaturised, soft, and ultrathin wireless electrotactile system that produces tactile sensations on a user’s skin, was recently developed by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), and other Chinese institutes. This technology, described in Nature Machine Intelligence, operates by passing an electrical current through the user’s palm.
“Because tactile sensitivity varies greatly between individuals and between different parts of the hand within a person, a universal method to encode tactile information into faithful feedback in hands based on sensitivity features is urgently needed,” wrote Kuanming Yao and his colleagues in their paper. “In addition, conventional haptic interfaces worn on the hand are often heavy, inflexible, and cable-tethered, creating a barrier to precisely and intuitively giving haptic feedback.”
WeTac is made up of a number of electrodes that are put over a user’s palm, as well as miniature soft electrical components that serve as the device’s control panel. When users wear the device, it can generate complex and customizable Spatio-temporal haptic feedback patterns, with 32 electrotactile simulation pixels on the side of the palm and a high spatial resolution of 0.279 pixels per cm2 in the densest location.
“As a skin-integrated haptic interface, WeTac distributes current through the hand to produce tactile sensations,” the researchers noted in their article. “With a reasonably high pixel density throughout the whole hand region, the WeTac can offer tactile stimulation as well as monitor users’ sensitivity thresholds in a customizable manner.”
The gadget created by Yao and his colleagues offers significant benefits over previous electrotactile devices. Most significantly, it covers the whole surface of a user’s hand rather than concentrating on one or more fingers.
Furthermore, due to the ultrasoft nature of its components, WeTac can readily map threshold currents for unique users, determining ideal settings for creating haptic feedback in specific regions of the hand. This might result in full-hand, realistic, and individualised tactile sensations that users can plainly feel without causing discomfort.
“Personalized threshold data may be obtained by mapping the thresholds for multiple electrical parameters to duplicate virtual touching sensations on the hand with optimum stimulation intensity while avoiding discomfort,” the researchers noted in their article. “It enables for individualised feedback when users engage with virtual items due to exact control of sensation level, temporal and spatial perception.”
In preliminary testing, the wireless electrotactile gadget developed by the researchers produced vivid and adaptable haptic input on users’ hands. It might be coupled with VR and AR technologies in the future to produce more vivid and engaging virtual experiences or to improve human-machine interactions.
