A Novel Haptic Sensor-Actuator System for Virtual Reality

The development of a novel system for the generation and represen- tation of haptic information in virtual reality is described. With this system the stiffness distribution of mechanically inhomogeneous objects can be detected and made perceivable for users at distant locations. The sensor part is based on ultrasonic elastography and the actuator part utilizes the ability of elec- trorheological fluids to change their consistency in electric fields reversibly. Two-dimensional elastographic images or arbitrary projections of three- dimensional objects generated in the sensor part can principally be represented by the actuator part, which has a flat surface above a two-dimensional array of actuator elements with individually addressable stiffness.