| This work is a combination of two technical innovations. One is electro-tactile display and the other is Augmented Haptics. |
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Electro-Tactile Display |
We have been developing a tactile display to present realistic skin sensation
for Virtual Reality. The idea is to selectively stimulate each kind of
receptor in the skin, especially the four types of mechanoreceptors: Meissner
corpuscles, Merkel cells, Ruffini endings, and Pacinian corpuscles. By
combining these stimuli, we can reconstruct complex tactile sensations.
We call them "tactile primary colors," analogous to the three
primary colors for vision.  Our approach uses electrical stimulation through the skin, or electro-tactile display. Electrical current from surface electrodes generates an electric field inside the skin, which induces nerve activity. We have shown that selective stimulation is possible through electro-tactile display. The basic idea is to utilize the different placement of sensory nerves, and to control the electric field by changing the current source distribution of the skin surface. We have succeeded in producing vibratory and pressure sensations.  |
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Augmented Haptics |
| In our daily life, we perceive the world around us through five major sensory
modalities. The receptors that generate the respective sensations are the
only gates to connect us with the outer world. It is a natural ambition
to acquire sensing ability beyond the usual physical limits: the ability
to see the unseeable, or hear the inaudible, often referred to as a sixth-sense.
However, the related discussions are generally not within the scope of
conventional science. Augmented reality (AR) is an engineer's alternative. In AR, artificial information is captured from the real world by some sort of a sensor, and displayed through our existing sensing channels. Hence, the users virtually acquire the physical ability of the sensor as their own.  Example of ARWe consider here the AR of haptics (Augmented Haptics), in order to touch the non-touchable. The system is essentially composed of a tactile display and a sensor. When contacting an object, information acquired by the sensor is translated into tactile sensation such as vibration or force by a tactile display. Thus, the person not only can make physical contact with the object, but also "touch" surface information of any modality.  SmartTouch: Idea We first presented a realization of Augmented Haptics, the "SmartTool" in Siggraph 2001, and "SmartFinger" was demonstrated in Siggraph 2002. The SmartTouch is a natural extension of these Haptics AR innovations. |
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