Chinese scientists say new device mimics sense of touch ‘in high definition’
- Researchers say it could make it easier for blind people to read and write, help astronauts feel through thick gloves and let avatars shake hands in the metaverse
- The technology is part of a project by tech giant Tencent to improve user experience in films, gaming and video calls
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Co-lead author Yang Zhengbao, an associate professor at CityU who directs the smart transducers and vibration laboratory, said that the technology is “groundbreaking” for blind people because it does not require much time to learn, unlike the raised dots of the Braille system.
“In the experiments, blindfolded volunteers wearing a rubber finger cot with electrodes attached felt strokes at their fingertips and could write the characters and numbers on paper right away with high accuracy.
“People who lose their sight later in life can read and write alphabetic characters, which they are used to, and do not have to pick up Braille dots from scratch,” he said.
First author Lin Weikang, a CityU PhD student at Yang’s lab, said that the device realistically recreates the sensation of touch, similar to how technological advances have made lifelike reproductions of sound and images possible.