New virtual reality system creates touch sensations on the lips and in the mouth

The researchers used several modules that generate ultrasonic waves to add to the environment

virtual reality tactile sensations.The device they developed is a phased array of 64 tiny transducers. A flat, crescent-shaped matrix is ​​attached to the bottom of the virtual reality glasses so that it is located directly above the mouth.

Photo: Future Interfaces Group, Carnegie Mellon University

Waves generated by individual transducersinterfere with each other, which provides point sensations in given places. At the same time, as the developers themselves note, the technology is suitable for creating tactile sensations in the mouth or on the hands, there are not enough nerve receptors in other parts of the body for the sensation to be strong enough.

Tactile effects consist of point impulses,movements and constant vibrations directed at the mouth and synchronized with visual images. The developers created several test effects and tested them on volunteers.

The researchers note that not all effects wereequally useful. The most successful were effects localized in the mouth, such as brushing teeth, feeling raindrops from an open window, or feeling a bug crawling on the lip. Others, such as going through the web, confused the test participants, who expected the sticky web to be felt over most of the body, not just in the mouth.

The developers say that lip sensitivity andgums have long been of interest to VR technology manufacturers. Various teams have been working to create haptic solutions for this area of ​​the face, however, it turns out that people generally don't like foreign objects in their mouths or on their lips. 

Non-contact impact, proposed by engineers, can solve this problem. Scientists plan to continue working on creating new tactile effects, as well as making the device smaller and lighter.

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