Tactile interfaces: a state-of-the-art survey

Abstract

Abstract- Virtual reality techniques allow one to interact with synthetic worlds, i.e. virtual environments. Tactile feedback means conveying parameters such as roughness, rigidity, and temperature. These information and many others are obtained thanks to the sense of touch. Tactile feedback is of prime importance in many applications. In this paper we examine the state-of-the-art in tactile interfaces design. Thorough reviews of the literature reveal a significant amount of publications concerning tactile humanmachine interfaces, especially onwards the ~1990. This paper reports the progress in tactile interfaces technology in the following areas: teleoperation, telepresence, sensory substitution, 3D surface generation, Braille systems, laboratory prototypes, and games. Different parameters and specifications required to generate and feed back tactile sensation are summarized.