Wearable haptic grasping device for virtual reality equipped with kinaesthetic, cutaneous and thermal feedback

Abstract

To grasp and manipulate objects in the real world, humans rely on fingertip contact pressure and kinaesthetic feedback of finger positions to determine proprioceptive, shape and cutaneous feedback of the object grasped. In order to elaborate haptic interfaces that can provide a realistic grasping experience we should support these modalities and produce similar forces on a user’s hands. Current virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems can render realistic 3D objects visually, but most lack the ability to provide an environmental feedback and realistic haptic experiences.