Northwestern Engineering researchers have developed a breakthrough wireless device that can recreate complex touch sensations—far beyond the simple vibrations offered by most current haptic technologies.
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Sitting directly on the skin, the compact, lightweight device can generate a wide range of sensations, including pressure, vibration, sliding, stretching, and twisting. It works by applying force in any direction and at varying speeds, enabling a finely tuned, realistic sense of touch that can be fully programmed and customized.
While traditional haptic devices rely on basic vibration, this new approach takes advantage of the skin’s natural sensitivity to a variety of stimuli. Human skin contains specialized receptors that detect subtle changes in pressure, texture, and movement. The Northwestern team’s device is designed to tap into that richness, offering a more immersive and responsive touch experience.
Powered by a small rechargeable battery, the device uses Bluetooth to connect wirelessly with virtual reality headsets and smartphones. Its small size and energy efficiency allow it to be worn anywhere on the body, integrated into arrays, or added to existing wearable tech.
Beyond enhancing virtual and augmented reality, the researchers see a wide range of potential uses: helping people with visual impairments navigate their surroundings, enabling tactile interaction with digital textures for online shopping, providing sensory feedback during telehealth appointments, and even letting individuals with hearing impairments “feel” music.
Almost all haptic actuators really just poke at the skin. But skin is receptive to much more sophisticated senses of touch. We wanted to create a device that could apply forces in any direction — not just poking but pushing, twisting and sliding. We built a tiny actuator that can push the skin in any direction and in any combination of directions. With it, we can finely control the complex sensation of touch in a fully programmable way.
John A. Rogers, Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University
Rogers, a pioneer in bioelectronics, is the Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern. He holds appointments in both the McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg School of Medicine and directs the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics.
He co-led the project with Yonggang Huang, Jan and Marcia Achenbach, professors of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at McCormick. Northwestern’s Kyoung-Ho Ha, Jaeyoung Yoo, and Shupeng Li are co-first authors of the study.
This work builds on the team’s earlier development of programmable arrays of miniature vibrating actuators, which were also designed to simulate a sense of touch.
Journal Reference:
Ha, K.-H., et al. (2025) Full freedom-of-motion actuators as advanced haptic interfaces. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.adt2481