Immersive Insights: Summary of World Haptics Conference 2023
The IEEE World Haptics Conference 2023 recently wrapped up, leaving attendees buzzing with excitement and inspiration. Held in Delft, Netherlands last July 10-13, 2023, the conference brought together enthusiasts, academics and innovators within the haptics space. Participants were able to engage in exciting workshops, network with haptic enthusiasts, learn from key professionals in the industry, play with a few interactive demos, and celebrate the novel capabilities and innovations in the field of haptics.
Here are a few highlights:
Haptic Workshops:
The World Haptics Conference 2023 featured 11 different workshops on its first day, covering a wide range of topics related to tactile sensing and haptic technology. These workshops delved into areas such as artificial tactile sensors, soft haptic interfaces, human-machine interaction, and computational models of tactile sensing.
Bibhushan, representing TITAN Haptics at the WHC, had the incredible opportunity to attend two workshops. One of them, titled “CollabJam: Collaborative Rapid-Prototyping of Vibrotactile Patterns for Multi-Actuator Interfaces,” was organized by Bibhushan and his team from DFKI, Dresden University of Applied Sciences, University of Lille, and Max Planck Institute for Informatics. Attendees were given a hands-on interactive toolkit and actively participated in the collaborative haptic design process.
The second workshop, entitled “Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Ethics of Social and Affective Touch Interactions with or Mediated by Technology,” delved into the ethical considerations surrounding digital touch interactions. The workshop sparked thought-provoking discussions and explored various scenarios, enabling participants to critically analyze the importance of ethics in this rapidly evolving field.
One of the key focuses across all the workshops was the applications of haptic technologies in various academia and industry. Participants gained insights into how haptic technologies were being utilized in different fields, and were able to see real-world applications of haptic technologies.
More details about the workshops is available at: https://2023.worldhaptics.org/workshops/
Oral Sessions
Oral sessions were held starting from the second day of the conference. These sessions featured presentations of papers on various topics related to haptics, ranging from haptic perception, to robotics and teleoperation applications. One of the highlights of the oral sessions was a paper about social interaction and affective haptics, where they talked about topics such as pressure therapy, social touch, facial expressions and brush strokes.
Several wearable technologies were also showcased, such as bracelets, fingertips and vests, which utilized multimodal and vibration techniques. Different technologies, including pressure and vibrotactile generation, pneumatic actuators, and electrohydraulic technology, were presented.
Presentations on vibrotactile displays and electro-tactile displays discussed their use cases and technologies. Neuroscience and motor papers focused on skill and task-based learning and evaluation. Presenters also discussed mid-air haptic technology in virtual reality, surface texture and hand guidance. Additionally, there were paper presentations on robotics applications and teleoperation using haptics.
More details can be found at : https://2023.worldhaptics.org/technical-toh-short-papers
Keynotes
One of the highlights of The World Haptics Conference 2023 were the keynote presentations, delivered by well-known professionals and innovators within the haptics industry.
The first keynote speaker, Prof. Tamar Makin, discussed the integration of robotic augmentation technologies, with a focus on the Third Thumb. She demonstrated the successful integration of motor augmentation devices, resulting in improved flexibility, reduced cognitive reliance, and a stronger sense of embodiment.
The second keynote speaker, Prof. Hiroyuki Shinoda, provided an overview of the history of haptic technology and emphasized its growing importance. He showcased advancements in midair haptics using ultrasound and explored the role of haptics in tasks such as mid guidance, ability expansion, and manipulation.
The final keynote speaker, Prof. Hong Z. Tan, shared her experience in the practical applications of psychophysics. She highlighted examples such as stiffness, perceptual dimension, and haptic illusion, emphasizing the significance of psychophysics in human factor analysis, research formulation, user perception prediction, and hardware and software specifications.
Demos
Aside from learning and networking, The World Haptic Conference provided a unique chance to explore cutting-edge haptic technology through interactive demos. These demos were divided into two categories: industrial and research-based.
A notable industrial demo was the development toolkit from The Haptics Lab, which includes one of our TacHammer motors and offers an innovative way of prototyping and creating haptic effects. Razer also impressed with their haptic headphones, which provided an immersive experience by simulating the intense moments of the Arrival movie’s first contact scene. Other demos included vibrotactile buttons for displays, robotic arms, and haptic gloves and vests with impressive gaming examples.
The research demos provided attendees with a plethora of innovative prototypes and devices to play with. Attendees had the opportunity to experience pneumatic devices that simulated air pressure, various wearables that provided vibration, heat, and motion feedback, and a variety of simple actuators. There were also demonstrations of mid-air haptics applications, virtual reality-based systems for haptics, rehabilitation and training systems utilizing vibrotactile and force feedback, and tools for social touch and affective haptics. Additionally, AI-based techniques in vibrotactile technology were showcased, along with demonstrations of low-cost haptic solutions.
In addition to the demos, the conference also featured a poster session showcasing cutting-edge research in the haptic field.
Conclusion
The World Haptic Conferences provided an incredible platform for showcasing the advancements and potential of haptic technology. Attendees were able to experience the touch effects in real-time and witness the impressive capabilities of state-of-the-art haptic devices through extensive demo sessions. The range of demos and posters on display highlighted the breadth of haptic technology and the innovative prototypes that were being developed. The keynote presentations from research leaders offered valuable insights and knowledge, while the oral sessions provided a deeper understanding of the ongoing work in the haptic space. Overall, attending the World Haptic Conferences was a truly inspiring experience that left attendees amazed by the possibilities of haptic technology.