Near future
No Result
View All Result
March 29 2023
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Inland solutions
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
CES2023 / Coronavirus / Russia-Ukraine
Near future
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Inland solutions
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+

Understand, anticipate, improve the future.

No Result
View All Result
Technology

WeTac, the hydrogel skin for touching virtual reality

Engineers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a thin, wearable electronic 'skin' for touching and manipulating virtual (or real, remote) objects.

December 16 2022
Gianluca RiccioGianluca Riccio
⚪ 2 minutes
Share64Pin15Tweet40SendShare11ShareShare8

READ THIS IN:

Technology is making great strides in engaging our eyes and ears in virtual worlds, but touch is more difficult. City University of Hong Kong engineers have developed WeTac, a thin, wearable electronic "skin" that provides haptic feedback to users in virtual and augmented reality. It can blow away the plethora of wearable (and ridiculous) devices that allow users to touch and manipulate virtual objects today.

How does WeTac work? What can we "touch"?

The WeTac system consists of an adhesive hydrogel that is placed on the hand and fingers. It is connected to a small battery (wireless rechargeable) and a Bluetooth communication system located on the forearm. The hydrogel has 32 electrodes scattered across the hand, thumb and fingers, through which electrical currents are transmitted to create tactile sensations. By stimulating different combinations of these electrodes at different intensities, WeTac can simulate a variety of experiences: such as touching and grasping a tennis ball, or feeling a virtual mouse walk on your hand. Sensations can also be heightened to become uncomfortable (but not painful), providing negative feedback for actions such as touching a (always virtual) cactus.

touch virtual objects
Who's afraid to touch a virtual mouse?

What can we do about it?

The team says this system can be used in conjunction with virtual or augmented reality, opening up the possibility for a number of innovative applications. I pass over everything that we could touch during our raids through VR or AR video games (hunting Pokémon would take on another meaning): not to mention the erotic market. I limit myself to saying that one of the most interesting and "serious" fields of application is that of the remote control of robots. Being able to get tactile feedback when a robot grabs objects at a distance can greatly speed up the application of this tool. WeTac could also be used to help people learn new skills, like surgery or flying an airplane, in a more immersive and realistic way. Furthermore, it could also be used to provide remote support to people with disabilities or to help operators work in hazardous environments

If you want to see WeTac in action, find the video below. The research was published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence e I link it to you here. We just have to wait to "touch" this innovation.

The article continues after the related links

Half food and half verse: among the 2023 trends "augmented" and underwater dinners

Geenee AR, AI and augmented reality together for virtual fashion

Tags: hydrogelaugmented realityvirtual realitytatto


GPT Chat Megaeasy!

Concrete guide for those approaching this artificial intelligence tool, also designed for the school world: many examples of applications, usage indications and ready-to-use instructions for training and interrogating Chat GPT.

To submit articles, disclose the results of a research or scientific discoveries write to the editorial staff

Most read of the month

  • AirCar, Lazzarini's flying car is a 750km/h racing car with 4 seats

    397 Shares
    Share 159 Tweet 99
  • Oculus gives VR visit to the Anne Frank house

    197 Shares
    Share 79 Tweet 49
  • Animals that know how to live forever and where to find them

    952 Shares
    Share 380 Tweet 238
  • Hard truths: Would China already be stronger than the US in a conflict?

    5 Shares
    Share 2 Tweet 1
  • Offshore Solar Energy: Seavolt is about to revolutionize the industry

    4 Shares
    Share 1 Tweet 1
  • We will talk to animals: the bioacoustic revolution passes through AI

    5 Shares
    Share 1 Tweet 1
  • The memristor based on the structure of the brain speaks Italian

    4 Shares
    Share 1 Tweet 1

Enter the Telegram channel of Futuroprossimo, click here. Or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon e LinkedIn.

The daily tomorrow.


Futuroprossimo.it provides news on the future of technology, science and innovation: if there is something that is about to arrive, here it has already arrived. FuturoProssimo is part of the network ForwardTo, studies and skills for future scenarios.

FacebookTwitterInstagramTelegramLinkedInMastodonPinterestTikTok
  • Environment
  • Architecture
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Gadgets
  • concepts
  • Innovative
  • Medicine
  • Spazio
  • Robotica
  • Work
  • Inland solutions
  • Energy
  • Edition Francaise
  • Deutsche Ausgabe
  • Japanese version
  • English Edition
  • Portuguese Edition
  • Русское издание
  • Spanish edition

Subscribe to our newsletter

  • The Editor
  • Advertising on FP
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Near future - Creative Commons License
This work is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

No Result
View All Result
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Inland solutions
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+