SmartTouch: electric skin to touch the untouchable

Augmented haptics lets users touch surface information of any modality. SmartTouch uses optical sensors to gather information and electrical stimulation to translate it into tactile display. Augmented reality is an engineer´s approach to this dream. In AR, sensors capture artificial information from the world, and existing sensing channels display it. Hence, we virtually acquire the sensor´s physical ability as our own. Augmented haptics, the result of applying AR to haptics, would allow a person to touch the untouchable. Our system, SmartTouch, uses a tactile display and a sensor. When the sensor contacts an object, an electrical stimulation translates the acquired information into a tactile sensation, such as a vibration or pressure, through the tactile display. Thus, an individual not only makes physical contact with an object, but also touches the surface information of any modality, even those that are typically untouchable.