New research findings of the University of California: VR tactile gloves using soft robots and 3D printing

Lighter, softer, more realistic, and mass-produced.

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, is using 3D printing and soft robots to develop smart gloves that can provide tactile feedback to users in a VR environment. This glove is still in the prototype stage, but it has successfully simulated the touch of the piano.

VR games and the environment are becoming more and more true, and tactile responses are still lagging behind. At present, most haptic feedback is in the form of a vibratory remote control, and when a user encounters something in the VR world, it will buzz. Obviously, this simple feedback is not as subtle as the VR vision, and it stands out in the immersive experience. Jurgen Schulze, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, said: "This experience is not true at all. You can't really touch anything, or when you press the button, there is no rebound."

Fortunately, Schulze and a group of dedicated researchers hope to integrate haptics into VR in an important way. He added: "We are trying hard to make users feel that they are in a real environment from a tactile point of view."

The team recently exhibited this work at the Virtual Reality Electronic Imaging and Engineering Reality Conference in Burlingame, California. It undoubtedly left a deep impression on the participants.

Unlike bulky materials (such as metal) used by other VR haptic devices, the team uses a lighter, more flexible soft robot to make VR gloves.

The robot glove consists of three main parts: the Leap Motion sensor, which detects the position of the user's hand; the fluid control board, which controls the glove movement; and the soft robot part that can be inflated or deflated, depending on the user in the VR world. Hand movements are designed. Its contraction and expansion can effectively imitate the tactile sensation of different objects in real life.

Michael Tolley, professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs Institute of Technology at the University of California, San Diego, said that this is the first prototype, but its effect is surprising.

Soft robot components are called "latex covered with woven fibers." For exoskeletons of VR gloves, the researchers used a 3D printed mold. The team stated that 3D printing will make manufacturing and mass production equipment easier. Prototype gloves use silicone rubber with Velcro as the exoskeleton.

To test VR gloves, the team invited fifteen users (two of whom were VR experts) to try to play the virtual piano. Positive gloves are linked to real-time interactive computer monitors that can display virtual hands and keyboards. Finally, the test user was surprised by the quality of the feedback and pointed out that the gloves were very responsive.

At present, the team of engineers are working hard to improve their VR glove designs and hope to make them lighter, smaller, and of course cheaper. Tolley concludes: "Our ultimate goal is to create a device that can provide a rich experience in VR. But it can also be used for surgery and video games, as well as other applications."

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