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A Wireless haptic system for multisensory texture data capture and vibrotactile feedback representation in virtual reality

Minadaki Anna

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Summary

The sense of touch is a fundamental aspect of human interaction with the environment, providing rich perceptual information about surface textures and material properties. As virtual environments increasingly aim to replicate real-world experiences, haptic feedback systems play a critical role in enhancing immersion. However, realistic texture representation remains a significant challenge, due to the complexity of tactile perception and the multi-dimensional nature of textures. This thesis is focused on developing a wireless system capable of capturing, processing and representing real-world textures, by simulating them through vibrotactile feedback. The system leverages a dual-sensor approach, using a MEMS microphone and a three-axis accelerometer to record synchronized audio and vibrational data during barefingertip user interactions with textures. Data preprocessing techniques, including filtering and denoising, isolate meaningful signal components, while adaptive peak detection identifies consistent interaction regions. Features extracted from the processed signals are mapped to vibration frequency and amplitude to drive a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA), creating perceptually realistic texture representations. The system supports audio-only, accelerometer-only and fused feedback modes, as well as dynamic hand velocity modulation for enhanced realism. A user evaluation in a custom Unity based virtual environment with Leap Motion integration for hand tracking demonstrated the system’s effectiveness in representing three distinct textures: combs with 1 mm and 2 mm tooth spacing and 180-grit sandpaper. Participants achieved texture identification rates of 80%–90%, with the fusion mode providing the most realistic feedback across all textures. Audio features excelled in representing fine textures, while accelerometer features captured coarser patterns more effectively. Although dedicated feature pairs tailored to individual textures offered marginally improved realism, common feature pairs proved sufficient for most applications, balancing simplicity and performance. The findings highlight the potential of combining audio and vibrational data for multimodal texture representation, while also identifying areas for improvement, such as addressing minor looping artifacts and scaling the feature mapping process. This work provides insights into achieving perceptually meaningful and immersive texture experiences, with applications in virtual reality, telepresence and tactile simulation.

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