Touch

​If you were trying to remotely operate a robotic hand, it would certainly makes things easier if you could feel what it was touching. Such a system was demonstrated this week at the Amazon re:MARS Tech Showcase, utilizing technology from three separate companies.

​It was just last year that we heard about the Fundamental Surgery simulator, which utilizes dual haptic feedback arms to provide the "feel" of performing various surgical procedures. The system has now been taken a step further, with the demonstrated integration of whole-hand VR gloves.

Cemtrex might not be well known in the world of office kit, but that hasn't stopped it launching what it regards as "the most advanced workstation on the market." And with everything it's shoehorned in – including a gesture control system dubbed the "Stark Gesture System" – it may well be.

Researchers at Caltech have induced a range of sensations in the arm of a paralyzed man. Electrodes implanted in the brain stimulated the neurons to produce different feelings. The research could eventually lead to prosthetic limbs that allow users to feel realistic sensations through them.

The bone structure of every person's dominant index finger is unique – so unique, in fact, that it can be used as a new form of biometric identification. Known as VibWrite, the technology was developed by a team from Rutgers University led by Prof. Yingying (Jennifer) Chen.

We're used to touchscreens, but now researchers have created new, touch-sensitive fibers that can be used to interact with electronic devices. The microscopic fibers capable of detecting touch, strain and twisting, which could lead to new sorts of wearable devices and sensing applications.

In an age when digital information can fly around the connected networks of the world in the blink of an eye, it may seem a little old timey to consider delivering messages by hand. Panasonic has developed a prototype comms system where data is transmitted from one person to another through touch.

The Spin Remote SDC-1 is designed to command and communicate with most infrared, wireless, and Bluetooth Smart devices while also transforming smartphones and tablets into universal remotes themselves.

Team O6 by Fingertips Lab has created a wearable solution that offers a way to operate devices without the need to look at or reach for screens. The O6 controller is designed to use touch, voice, and gesture input to control apps and listen/respond to messages completely eyes-free.

​Dennis Aabo Sørensen may be missing a hand, but he nonetheless recently felt rough and smooth textures using a fingertip on that arm. The fingertip was electronic, and was surgically hard-wired to nerves in his upper arm.

Researchers from Tsukuba University in Japan have created holograms that respond to human touch. Involving femtosecond lasers, which can stimulate physical matter to emit light in 3D form, the research could eventually lead to the creation of holograms that humans are able to interact with.

​Our sense of touch is made possible thanks to thousands of "mechanoreceptors," which are distributed throughout our skin. Scientists have now created synthetic skin that contains electronic mechanoreceptors, which could give prosthetic limbs or robots a sense of touch.​