Disney develops technology that turns any surface into touch

Disney Research has devised a 'reverse electrovibration' technology’ called REVEL that, by means of an electrostatic signal generator, Allows you to give a tactile texture to objects on screens or flat surfaces, and even change our tactile perception of real objects, which offers the possibility of adding a new dimension to augmented reality applications.

Disney researchers have presented a technology that modifies the user's tactile perception of the physical world without having to put on special gloves or use a device that provides a return force.. Sensations can be induced when the wearer touches a computer screen, the walls, the furniture, plastic or wooden objects and even other people. Disney's interface exploits a tactile effect known as "reverse electrovibration", and has been named REVEL. An imperceptible electrical signal is introduced throughout the user's body to create an oscillating electrostatic field around the skin. By touching a physical object that shares an electric field with the REVEL signal generator, for example the screen of a tablet, an electrostatic force modulates the friction between the sliding finger and the object to create the sensation of a texture.

Olivier Bau, principal investigator of the REVEL project, has explained that “sight and hearing are important, but we believe that adding touch can create a magical and unique experience Instead of making objects or devices simulate the touch effect, we change how you feel about the real world. We are altering human perception. The rest of the world remains passive.".

Recording objects touched by a person, an interface could combine augmented reality images, on the screen of a tablet or smartphone, with the virtual tactile sensations that REVEL provides.

By varying signal properties, like the shape, the amplitude or frequency, a wide range of tactile sensations can be provided, according to Ivan Poupyrev, another Disney researcher working on the project. “Right now the sensations are carefully designed and range from the feeling of virtual boulders to finer textures, like sand, to materials such as glass or rubber, to larger spatial geometric patterns, like slots, lumps. We still have to work a lot more on the design and investigate very rich tactile sensations with this technology”, has pointed out.

Create the sensation of a texture or tactile surface

The REVEL is capable of combining tactile sensations with images on practically any surface, including walls and tables, as long as they have a conductive element. wall painting, For example, could include a copper emulsion to make it conductive, according to the Disney laboratory. Users do not have to be connected directly to the REVEL input via electrodes, because the weak signals emitted by the REVEL device, that could be inserted into a chair, a shoe or the frame of a touch screen, can still safely pass into the user's body.

Possible applications include guides and augmented reality for the blind and, maybe later, augmented images and “tactile” films of the film industry. Carl Telford, analista de Strategic Business Insights, a British e-business consultancy, has pointed: “REVEL could change the tactile sensation of objects in a custom-made environment, depending on the 'story' you are immersed in. Could augment reality with new textures. The really interesting thing is that it is not necessary to change the surface of the object that is touched, so it could be flexible and possibly cheap to install, although I think there will probably be at least a decade left before it can be commercialized”.

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