Robotic hand transmits haptic touch across the Atlantic

Claimed to be a world first, the project was a collaboration between Shadow Robot Company, SynTouch, HaptX, and the Japanese parent company of All Nippon Airways, ANA Holdings. It involved an operator in California using a motion-capture haptic glove whose movements were mirrored by a robotic hand in London. As the hand performed a variety of tasks such as typing, playing Jenga and moving chess pieces, haptic feedback was transmitted to the operator thousands of miles away in California.

According to its developers, the system could be used for remote operation applications such as bomb disposal and nuclear decommissioning, where human proximity to the task is risky. Other potential applications include pharmaceutical manufacture and clean rooms where humans can contaminate the environment. It’s also claimed the system could play a key role in immersive interactive experiences where – combined with virtual reality or robots transmitting from distant worlds – users would be able to touch and feel remote surroundings as well as experience their sights and sounds.