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

TLDR

Virtual reality advances enable wearable devices that provide somatosensory sensation, enhancing perception and feedback in metaverse environments. The study proposes augmented tactile‑perception and haptic‑feedback rings that deliver multimodal sensing and feedback. The ring integrates triboelectric and pyroelectric sensors with vibrators and nichrome heaters, all powered by a low‑power custom wireless platform. Voltage‑integrated processing yields high‑resolution finger motion tracking and improves gesture/object recognition, while multimodal sensing and feedback create an interactive metaverse platform that delivers face‑to‑face immersive social experiences.

Abstract

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.