📋 Tender Overview
The sense of touch is underexploited in virtual reality systems. EPFL researchers have created soft actuators that can simulate the feeling of touching a virtual object. For virtual reality VR to be truly immersive the sense of touch must be stimulated. Scientists from the School of Engineerings Soft Transducers Laboratory at EPFL Neuchtel have developed HAXELs very small thin and fast actuators that deliver a rich sense of touch on fingers or anywhere on the skin.HAXELs use electrostatic energy to inflate and deflate. They have an outer insulating membrane made of silicone enclosing an inner pocket filled with oil. Each bubble is surrounded by four electrodes that can close like a zipper. When a voltage is applied the electrodes are pulled together causing the center of the capsule to swell like a blister. The Swiss scientists led by professor Herbert Shea are already working on integrating a dozen of these actuators into a thin glove. The next challenge for the researchers will be to create the software that will program the feeling and weight of the virtual objects held in the glove.HAXELs will be combined with another system that actively blocks your fingers from going through the virtual object says professor Shea in a press release. Youll convincingly feel youre holding a solid object even though your hands are empty. Well also be able to recreate the feeling of different materials youll be able to tell whether the object youre holding is made of wood plastic or ceramic. Applications for the new technology range from surgery and teleoperation to video games. The research has been published in the scientific journal Advanced Material.
