'Smart Fingertips' Pave Way For Virtual Sensations

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'Smart Fingertips' Pave Way For Virtual Sensations

Posted by samzenpus on Friday August 10, 2012 @12:05AM from the let-your-fingers-do-the-virtual-walking dept.

sciencehabit writes "Imagine feeling like you're lifting a 50-kilogram weight just by pulling at thin air. That's just one of the possible applications of new 'smart fingertips' created by a team of nanoengineers. The electronic fingers mold to the shape of the hand, and so far the researchers have shown that they can transmit electric signals to the skin. The team hopes to one day incorporate the devices into a smart glove that creates virtual sensations, fooling the brain into feeling everything from texture to temperature."

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pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:07 · Score: 5, Funny

You were thinking it. Get it out of the way first.
1. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:12 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  pr0n is what causes a lot of technical advances.
  Come to think of it maybe most technological advances are caused to increase our entertainment.
2. Re:pr0n by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-08-10 00:31 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, but the first version coming to market will only be able to play back electric torture porn. Anyway, this new invention gives the phrase "power at your fingertips" a whole new meaning.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
3. Re:pr0n by Kergan · 2012-08-10 00:32 · Score: 1
  
  Or worse... Judge Dredd-like.
4. Re:pr0n by flyneye · 2012-08-10 00:44 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  O.K. I'll be the one to say it. The tip we are interested in virtualizing is NOT a finger.
  This could be a disease free replacement for prostitution. You could virtualize any number of kinky situations.
  We all KNOW what these nano scientists had in mind hehehehehehe...
  
  --
  *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
5. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:51 · Score: 0
  
  Speak for yourself. I want a virtual "glove".
6. Re:pr0n by ciderbrew · 2012-08-10 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  How much shock can you get from a USB port? I think I'll wait until SP2 before I try it.
7. Re:pr0n by Walterk · 2012-08-10 01:40 · Score: 2
  
  Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat..
  
  --
  
  "If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."
8. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 01:55 · Score: 0
  
  I'd rather wait for the technology to get some decades of use before I'd even get near it. Just the idea of putting a limb inside a device that would simulate pressure makes me think of Iron Man, you know the part where he's at a hearing and you see the competition's failed tries.
  Yeah, that really changed my outlook on a lot of things.
9. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 01:57 · Score: 0
  
  It's actually surprisingly difficult to make haptic pornography with high enough resolution. "Taxels" on the tip of the finger measure ~1mm across, yet it's the complex interactions between them which create precise sensations of touch. Those complex waveforms are what's difficult to analyse and reproduce. Believe me, I've tried...
10. Re:pr0n by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 02:18 · Score: 0
  
  Virtual body suit ideally.
  For, um, medical stuff, yeah...
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
11. Re:pr0n by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 02:19 · Score: 1
  
  Trying makes you a brilliant pioneer. Keep at it.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
12. Re:pr0n by Ukab+the+Great · 2012-08-10 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  My first thought was "terrifying dystopia where the mimes have won".
13. Re:pr0n by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 03:08 · Score: 0
  
  Flamebait? What, do we have puritans in here?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
14. Re:pr0n by Evtim · 2012-08-10 03:37 · Score: 0
  
  Perhaps someone voted your signature down? There should be space between "the" and "tech"....
15. Re:pr0n by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 03:53 · Score: 0
  
  There is definitely a space, check your display settings.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
16. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 06:45 · Score: 0
  
  Brightness is good... contrast is fine... I guess the color temperature is a bit off, but I'm not sure why that would prevent a blank from displaying.
17. Re:pr0n by spazdor · 2012-08-10 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  try Ctrl-Plus and see if that makes the kerning any better?
  
  --
  DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
18. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  your font selection could be considered a display setting
19. Re:pr0n by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 08:52 · Score: 0
  
  wow. I checked the comments to see if anyone else was thinking this. Little did I imagine it would be the first post :)
ummmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:08 · Score: 2, Insightful

Tactile sensation =/= resistance... It's not going to feel like your lifting anything...
1. Re:ummmmm by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-08-10 00:20 · Score: 1
  
  It would be a bit more invasive; but actuating muscles with external electrical signals isn't exactly science fiction, and I suspect that you could get a surprisingly convincing feeling of resistance if you combined a bit of externally-induced muscle tension with a strong sensation of pressure on the skin surfaces supposedly in contact with the item.
  It wouldn't be quite right, since, in absence of an actual weight, you'd need to stimulate the opposing muscle group as well to keep the user's hands from just flying upward wildly, which would lead to a somewhat odd distribution of muscular effort and soreness compared to the real thing; but I suspect that the addition of realistic skin-pressure cues and/or visual overlays could probably fake the user out fairly convincingly for lighter objects.
2. Re:ummmmm by mister2au · 2012-08-10 00:23 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly !
  Who lifts 50kg with their finger tips anyway - not even a static 50kg could be simulated. And even if this is expanded to whole-of-hand can it really apply 500N of force ???
  Fine motor control for remote applications - whole different story and a fantastic application ...
3. Re:ummmmm by somersault · 2012-08-10 00:27 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe they just mean they can make you hurt like hell. 50KG is a lot to support on your fingertips.
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
4. Re:ummmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 01:00 · Score: 0
  
  I often apply over 50kg to my finger tips and I'm not a particularly good climber (~5.11).
5. Re:ummmmm by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-08-10 01:10 · Score: 1
  
  You support it against rock, not air. You can't simulate it by squeezing the fingertips, because it's obvious to the brain.
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
6. Re:ummmmm by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-08-10 01:16 · Score: 1
  
  Nevermind, I failed at reading.
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
7. Re:ummmmm by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 02:50 · Score: 2
  
  50kg is a lot to pick up *period* for the average noodle-armed nerd.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
8. Re:ummmmm by somersault · 2012-08-10 02:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Since the demise of the CRT, I suppose that's true..
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
Nintendo by rullywowr · 2012-08-10 00:15 · Score: 1

Didn't Nintendo already conquer this with the NES Power Glove?
1. Re:Nintendo by MickyTheIdiot · 2012-08-10 00:16 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I take it you never had a power glove...
2. Re:Nintendo by VortexCortex · 2012-08-10 03:12 · Score: 1
  
  I take it you never had a power glove...
  I take it you had the glove, but were not gifted with the power...
STFW by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:21 · Score: 1

Sorry guys, I didn't rtfa, but doesn't our current hand have the ability to feel temps and textures?
1. Re:STFW by f3rret · 2012-08-10 00:30 · Score: 2
  
  Sorry guys, I didn't rtfa, but doesn't our current hand have the ability to feel temps and textures?
  Nope.
  
  --
  Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
2. Re:STFW by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:38 · Score: 0
  
  ...our current hand...
  Which we use to give a collective round of applause?
3. Re:STFW by jsepeta · 2012-08-10 01:52 · Score: 1
  
  so clapping would be unsafe behavior, smashing heavy stuff together?
  
  --
  Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Call me back when I can squeeze by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 00:41 · Score: 0

naw'msayin
isn't this a fairly old idea? by Trepidity · 2012-08-10 00:41 · Score: 2

I suppose this one is more miniaturized, but "virtual reality" and "haptics" people have been trying this sort of thing for a while, without having yet really come up with a compelling win. Here is a 1995 Popular Science article about a device that takes basically the same approach to characterizing what constitutes texture perceived by fingertips (by simulating sliding/bumpiness/resistance/stickiness). Available for only $20,000! And a 1996 textbook devoted large sections to the topic as well.

--
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
1. Re:isn't this a fairly old idea? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 08:47 · Score: 0
  
  A related technology is electrovibration. Wikipedia says "the history of electrovibration goes back to 1954." You touch a surface with an insulator, and an alternating current underneath creates a static charge on your skin. As you move your finger over the surface it is pulled into the surface and feels like friction. The charge doesn't go deep enough into your skin to affect your nerves directly.
  The article is unclear on what this technology is. It seems like they are running a current through your finger nerves.
Nanoengineers! by fearofcarpet · 2012-08-10 01:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

Wow, those are some tiny engineers! I wonder what they eat?

--
Actually, I wrote my thesis on life experience.
1. Re:Nanoengineers! by VortexCortex · 2012-08-10 03:13 · Score: 2
  
  HUGE BUDGETS!
Nano, eh? by T+Murphy · 2012-08-10 01:15 · Score: 3, Insightful

a team of nanoengineers
I think the politically correct term would be "vertically challenged engineers".

--
My webcomic
1. Re:Nano, eh? by camperdave · 2012-08-10 01:55 · Score: 2
  
  a team of nanoengineers
  I think the politically correct term would be "vertically challenged engineers".
  When, oh when, will we be able to live in a world where the "nano-ness" of an engineer is no longer noteworthy? Do you really want to live in a world where it is okay to deride someone with comments like "From small minds come small ideas", or "She uses CGS because MKS is too big for her", or "Why are you crying? Got a Planck in your eye?", and the like? Think of the wee children.
  
  --
  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
2. Re:Nano, eh? by VortexCortex · 2012-08-10 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  a team of nanoengineers
  I think the politically correct term would be "vertically challenged engineers".
  So, they're essentially two dimensional? How strange.
only needed to read the title by gsgriffin · 2012-08-10 01:16 · Score: 2

To know exactly where the comments on this post were going to start...and probably finish...with a bang

--
jsut athnoer menagiensls ltitle psrhae for you to dcoede. Why do we wtsae our tmie dnoig tihs?
Imagine this used with the Leap interface. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 01:30 · Score: 0

http://leapmotion.com/
Admittedly, one is vapour so far, and the other isn't anywhere near a commercial product, but still... haptic feedback to your gestures in mid air - imagine the possibilities.
Nothing can go wrong with this. by RivenAleem · 2012-08-10 01:43 · Score: 1

So, how long before someone comes up with a torture device that can fool your body into thinking it's on fire?
1. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by Jade_Wayfarer · 2012-08-10 02:06 · Score: 1
  
  Actual hot iron would be much simpler and cost-effective. Plus you can always iron your shirt with it. Or, since this is Slashdot, use the soldering-copper for this purpose (not for the ironing, of course).
  
  --
  Absence of proof != proof of absence.
2. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by RivenAleem · 2012-08-10 02:14 · Score: 1
  
  But if you can transfer the impression of being on fire, without physically injuring the subject, then you go much further with the torture, until, I suspect, the person just goes loo-la.
3. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 02:43 · Score: 0
  
  You mean, like in Dune?
4. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 02:52 · Score: 1
  
  Been done:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
5. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 04:33 · Score: 0
  
  Those don't actually work.
  Ever see whale wars? They just ignore the damn things.
6. Re:Nothing can go wrong with this. by GameboyRMH · 2012-08-10 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  You're thinking of sonic weapons which are a different thing (although they look kind of similar). This is a microwave weapon.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Take the Red Pill! by jsepeta · 2012-08-10 01:51 · Score: 1

Welcome to the Matrix.

--
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Wow! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 01:56 · Score: 1

I love the Penisglove. It's so bad.
Bond ? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 02:02 · Score: 0

This sounds suspiciously like they want to build the game from Never Say Never Again, where you zap your opponent as you win.
Viruses by caspy7 · 2012-08-10 02:18 · Score: 1

Patiently awaiting the day there's malware that makes you feel like your hands are on fire.
The Comedian-It's only a matter of time, I suppose by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-08-10 02:28 · Score: 1

Greaaaaaaaattt...more threads to stay away from on 4chan.

--
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by Havenwar · 2012-08-10 02:36 · Score: 3, Funny

A glove that makes me feel sensations is great and all, but I do hope it comes with some pretty heavy security limitations and so on... Wouldn't want some hacker to get access to my machine and burn my hand, or shock it, or even just cause extremely unpleasant sensations to it as a form of blackmail or just for kicks. Sure, "just take it off"... not so easy if both your hands are spasming because you feel they are stuck into a fire or something.
1. Re:"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by neminem · 2012-08-10 03:07 · Score: 1
  
  If it were just the sensation, and didn't actually cause your hand to be burned or shocked or whatever... I bet you'd have a new untapped market for that. An... adult market, let's say.
2. Re:"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by Havenwar · 2012-08-10 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  First off, to the people you are referring to it wouldn't matter if they were actually shocked and burned or whatever. They do that for fun. Secondly, they don't find it fun when it happens to them non-consensually, e.g. because their system was hacked. Which is what this thread is about - the porn thread you'll find higher up.
  As for whether it matters if the sensations are caused by the stimuli - no it doesn't. Your body still reacts to pain whether it's real or not. if you perceive you are being shocked or burned, then that's what your body will react to. That's a horrible power to put in the hands of someone with access to your computer.
3. Re:"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by Havenwar · 2012-08-10 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  I feel that the fact that people modded this funny really proves that this is a valid concern.
4. Re:"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-11 04:01 · Score: 0
  
  While the article is a little bland (a "mild tingling" is what I've gotten when I accidentally touched some exposed circuits... been able to do that for decades), I think if we *could* get to the point of simulating sensations like extreme heat of physical crushing... it presents a scary line of curiosity.
  How far can we take it? Could we simulate extreme pain without actually doing damage? Make someone feel like their hand is burning, and now you have a torture device that leaves no (or very little) physical scars (but probably plenty of mental ones).
  Just remember - "Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration." :)
5. Re:"What happened to your hand?" "Hackers." by Havenwar · 2012-08-11 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  Well I have to wonder though, at that point we probably have the technology to introduce the mental scarring directly. I.e. to confuse and disorient people with chemicals or certain signals in ways that mean torture is needless. More akin to just hacking the psyche directly rather than brute forcing it, I suppose.
tits by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 02:51 · Score: 0

What I would give to feel real tits again.
1. Re:tits by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-10 05:54 · Score: 0
  
  What I would give to feel real tits.
  FTFY.
50kg with one finger? by Cyko_01 · 2012-08-10 02:57 · Score: 1

I'm no strong-man but I need to use at least my hand and arm to do that.
Damn Lawnmower men... by VortexCortex · 2012-08-10 03:18 · Score: 1

...Get off my Lawn!
Falling, floating, and flying? So, what's next, fucking?
Downloadable sensation samples by P-niiice · 2012-08-10 03:54 · Score: 1

*****FILE LIST****** 1. semi.erect.nipplev1.0-PRONSTARS 2. saucer.nipplev3.0-PRONSTARS 3. fully.erect.nipplev12.0-PRONSTARS 4. . . and so on