Augmented tactile-perception and haptic-feedback rings as human-machine interfaces aiming for immersive interactions

Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 5;13(1):5224. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32745-8.

Abstract

Advancements of virtual reality technology pave the way for developing wearable devices to enable somatosensory sensation, which can bring more comprehensive perception and feedback in the metaverse-based virtual society. Here, we propose augmented tactile-perception and haptic-feedback rings with multimodal sensing and feedback capabilities. This highly integrated ring consists of triboelectric and pyroelectric sensors for tactile and temperature perception, and vibrators and nichrome heaters for vibro- and thermo-haptic feedback. All these components integrated on the ring can be directly driven by a custom wireless platform of low power consumption for wearable/portable scenarios. With voltage integration processing, high-resolution continuous finger motion tracking is achieved via the triboelectric tactile sensor, which also contributes to superior performance in gesture/object recognition with artificial intelligence analysis. By fusing the multimodal sensing and feedback functions, an interactive metaverse platform with cross-space perception capability is successfully achieved, giving people a face-to-face like immersive virtual social experience.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Feedback
  • Haptic Technology
  • Humans
  • Touch
  • Touch Perception*