A team of researchers have created a 'skin' that lets you touch things in VR. Led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) researchers, 'WeTac' is a thin, wearable glove-like device that provides tactile feedback to users in VR and AR environments. The newly developed innovation has great application potential in virtual games, sports, technical training, social interaction, or remote control robots.
Users can experience virtual objects in different scenarios, such as grasping a tennis ball during sports practice or feeling a mouse walking on their hands during virtual games. Existing haptic gloves rely mostly on bulky pumps and air ducts, powered and controlled through cords and cables, which severely hinder the immersive experience of VR and augmented reality users. The newly developed WeTac overcomes these shortcomings with its soft, ultrathin, skin-integrated wireless electrotactile system.
The system comprises two parts: a miniaturised soft driver unit, attached to the forearm as a control panel and hydrogel-based electrode hand patch as a haptic interface. The entire driver unit weighs only 19.2 grams and is small (5cm x 5cm x 2.1mm) enough to be mounted on the arm.
The study says that it exhibits 'great flexibility' and 'guarantees effective feedback' in various poses and gestures. Xinge believes that this invention is a powerful tool for providing 'virtual touching' and an inspiration for the development of the metaverse, human-machine interface (HMI) and other fields.