WeTac skin creates vivid touch experience for VR

News

Researchers in Hong Kong have developed an advanced wireless haptic interface system called WeTac, claimed to provide a ‘personalised, vivid touch experience’ for VR users.

Dr Yu Xinge (Central) and his research team at City University of Hong Kong, including Mr Zhou Jingkun (Right), Miss Wu Mengge (Left) and Mr Yao Kuanming developed the “WeTac” system
Dr Yu Xinge (Central) and his research team at City University of Hong Kong, including Mr Zhou Jingkun (Right), Miss Wu Mengge (Left) and Mr Yao Kuanming developed the “WeTac” system - Credit: City University of Hong Kong

The system, developed by a team at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is worn on the hand and has soft, ultrathin features. It collects personalised tactile sensation data and has potential applications in gaming, sports and skills training, social activities and remote robotic controls, researchers said.

“Touch feedback has great potential, along with visual and audial information, in virtual reality (VR), so we kept trying to make the haptic interface thinner, softer, more compact and wireless, so that it could be freely used on the hand, like a second skin,” said Dr Yu Xinge, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at CityU, who led the research.

Together with Professor Li Wenjung, chair professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MNE), Dr Wang Lidai, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and other collaborators, Dr Yu’s team developed the system which is described in the scientific journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address

VR
AR