Mapping Our Sensory Capabilities

The senses of touch and human dexterity are being channeled into telerobotics through haptic technology. Haptics allows us to literally feel what the robotic hands are experiencing. “Touch is the cornerstone of the next generation of human-machine interface technologies,” says Jake Rubin, the founder of HaptX, which has created the world’s first haptic telerobotic system that transmits realistic touch feedback to an operator anywhere in the world as part of ANA’s Avatar X initiative. Next up: bringing that technology to a full suit that can ignite the body’s entire senses. For avatar systems, actuators — the small devices that relay touch — need to be light enough to enable full range of motion. In this episode, we’ll examine how haptic technology could eventually provide avatars with the sensory cues necessary to connect humans to another form.