New Happy Technology Adds The Sense of Touch to Virtual Reality

UsC scientists have developed a wearable system that enables more natural and emotionally engaging interactions in shared digital spaces, Opening New Possibilites for Remote Work, Education, Health Care and Beyond.

Touch Plays a Vital Role in How Humans Communicate and Bond. From infancy through adulthood, physical contact helps Foster Emotional Bonds, Build Trust and Regulate Stress. Yet in Today’s Increasing Digital World, Where Screens Media of Many of Our Relationships, it is often Missing.

To bridge the gap, resarchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Have Developed A Wearable Happy HAPTIC SYSTEM That Lets Users Exchange Physical Gestures in Virtual Reality and Feel HeN Real Timen They’re miles apart. Their paper is Published on the arxiv Preprint server.

The system includes glooves and Sleeves outfitted with Small Vibration Motors that Simulate Sensations Such as Pressure and Movement. This enables users to perform and feel gestures like pats, handshakes and squeezes within a shared virtual space. Users can also interact with virtual objects and receive realistic vibration feedback.

Findings from a user study testing the technology, published in connection with the IEEE World Haptics ConferenceShowed that participants found virtual interactions more engaging, pleasant and realistic when they could make feel gestures.

“Even thought people Culbertson, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering at USC Viterbi and the Study’s Corresponding Author.

“People will continentue interacating virtually –T’s part of modern life. But how can we make online interactions better reflects

How it works

The system supports up to 16 users simultaneously, Each represented by a full-body 3D Avatar that mirrors their real-world movements inside a shared virtual environment. Unlike Traditional Video Calls, Users can move freely Around One Another and Interact with Virtual Objects – Like Passing A Cup or Completing Team Tasks.

“This project was born from a simple, deeply human desire: to feel closer to the people we miss,” Said Premankur Bnerjee, A Doctoral Student in Culbertson’s HABTSON’s HABTICS ROBOTICS ROBOTICS ROBOTICS ROBOTICS Author of the study.

“Having Spent Over five years Away from My Own Loved Ones, this research was more than academic –it was personal,” he added. “It’s about using technology not just to simulate presence, but to restore a sense of physical closeness that’s that’s often lost in long-distance communication.”

To add the sense of touch, users wear glows and armbands equipped with vibration motors. These devices provide tactil fedback that simulates pressure and motion, allowing users to actually Feel Gestures and Object Interactions Within the VR Spaice.

Lab Tests Showed that Participants Felt a Greater Sense of Presence and Social Connection when Tactille feedback was included. The research also explred how different factors, like gesture speed and vibration type, influenced emotional and sensory experiences, providing insights into how to design more engaging virtual touching.

“Developing this Technology requires Expertise from Many Fields,” Culbertson Said. “Our Team Combines Computer Science, Engineering, Neuroscience, Psychology and Social Sciences to Create Hardware and Software That Not only Functions Technical Emotionally meaningful social interactions. “

Reconnecting through touch

The Global Shift Toward Online Communication-Consuced by the Covid-19 Pandemic-His Burght Undeniable Convenience but also Unintended Consequences. People are more connected than ever digitally, Yeet Feelings of Loneliness, Anxiety and Depression Remain High, Especially Among the Nation’s Youth.

“While Platforms Like Zoom and Fractime Have Allowed Families, Friends and Colleagues to Maintain Visual and Verbal Contact, these Modes Lack the Physicality that Humans Naturally Crave,” Culbertson sid

“While The Technology will not replace the experience of in-face in contact, it can be a powerful tool to augment social interaction when physical presence is not possible,”

In hospitals and long-term care facilities, the researchrs’ System Cold Allow Patients and Family Members to Share a Comforting Touch Across Dists. In remote and hybrid workplaces and classrooms, it offers more immersive ways to collaborate and engage. For loved ones separated by travel, deployment or circumstance, it brings a deeper senses of close.

“Human touch is fundamental to our well-marriage, and while technology can’t full replace it, brings the sense of touch into into virtual spaces is a critical step toward more meaningful more meaning World, “She Said.