Currently, the device has to be kept within 30 to 50 centimeters of the antenna that powers it.

The synthetic skin is controlled wirelessly using a touchscreen interface on a smartphone or tablet that transmits tactile patterns to the patch. Each actuator can be individually programmed and tuned to different frequencies to vary the strength of the sensation. The prototype device described in a recent paper in Nature features an array of 32 of these actuators sandwiched between soft flexible fabric that can st i ck directly onto the skin. That not only means the device is lightweight enough to stick to the body without falling off, but it can also be powered using the same kind of inductive charging found in wireless smartphone chargers. The key innovation with the VR skin was creating a vibrating actuator only a couple millimeters thick that can be powered with very little energy. But they’ve typically been bulky and have used either large battery packs or wires to power them. Haptic interfaces-devices designed to simulate physical sensations-aren’t new, and often rely on vibration to simulate sensory experiences. Our sense of touch provides the most profound emotional connection between people.” The community has been comparatively slow to exploit the body’s largest organ: the skin. “Currently, we’re just using our eyes and our ears as the basis for those experiences. “ Virtual reality is a very important emerging area of technology,” John Rogers, who co-led the research, said in a press release. Developed at Northwestern University, the 15-centimeter- square patch can be stuck onto any part of the body and uses actuators that vibrate against the skin to simulate tactile sensations. But the technology relies primarily on our sense s of sight and hearing to create these illusions, which means they still lack realism.Ī new lightweight, flexible, and wirelessly-powered synthetic skin could soon change that. While they’re still struggling to gain commercial traction, the latest VR headsets are able to transport people to impressive virtual worlds. Now new technology could make th ose worlds even more realistic by simulating one of the most crucial ways in which we experience things: touch. Virtual reality’s ability to create artificial worlds has come a long way in recent years.

How to get touched in vr