Emerging Material Technologies for Haptics

The sense of touch is involved in nearly all human activities, but information technologies for displaying tactile sensory information to the skin are rudimentary when compared to state-of-the-art video and audio displays, or to tactile perceptual capabilities. Realizing tactile displays with good perceptual fidelity will require major advances in engineering, design, and fabrication. Research over several decades has highlighted the difficulties of meeting the required performance benchmarks using conventional devices, processes, and techniques. This has highlighted the important role that will be played by new material technologies that can bridge the electronic and mechanical domains. This must occur at the smallest scales, because of the great perceptual spatial and temporal acuity of the sense of touch. The requirements involved also furnish valuable performance benchmarks against which many emerging material technologies are being evaluated. This article highlights recent research and possibilities enabled through new material technologies, ranging from organic electronic materials, to carbon nanomaterials, and a variety of composites. Emerging material technologies are surveyed for the sense of touch, including sensory considerations and requirements, materials, actuation principles, and design and fabrication methods. A conclusion reflects on the main open challenges and future prospects for research in this area.