Fluidic Elastomer Actuators for Haptic Interactions in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality experiences via immersive optics and sound are becoming ubiquitous; there are several consumer systems (e.g., Oculus Rift and HTC Vive) now available with these capabilities. Other sensory experiences, such as that of touch remain elusive in this field. The most successful examples of haptic sensation (e.g., Nintendo 64's rumble pack and its descendants) are vibrotactile, which do not afford for persistent, morphological shape experiences. This letter presents work on the development of a 12 DOF fluidically pressurized soft actuator for persistent and kinesthetic haptic sensations, a hardware controller for operating it, and software interface with NVIDIA's game VR Funhouse.