Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Display
Camera
Speaker
Microphone
Tactile
sensor
Tactile
display
Object
Figure 1.1
Collecting and displaying visual, auditory, and tactile information
gathered by stroking the fingers across an object to provide information about its texture,
or by pressing on an object in order to determine how soft or hard it is, or moving fingers
around the perimeter of an object to gather information about its shape [3]. Generally, the
ways in which the human hand and fingers gather tactile information have been duplicated
by researchers when developing touch sensors for similar purposes.
In the 1990s, efforts by researchers to design a commercially viable robotic hand that
contained touch sensors proved unsuccessful. This failure was attributed to the sheer
complexity of such systems since touch sensors need to physically interact with objects,
whereas audio or visual systems do not. Also, tactile sensing may often not be the most
effective option in such a highly structured environment as the automated car industry.
Nevertheless, for unstructured environments where irregularities occur in any object that is
handled, or if there is any disorder in the working environment, the role of tactile sensing
in gathering tactile information through haptic exploration is pivotal [4]. It is also evident
that the use of remote tactile sensors is preferable in any hazardous or life-threatening
environment, such as beneath the ocean or outer space, and for which no other sensing
modality, such as hearing or vision, can be substituted. The purpose of this topic is to
explore some of the features, challenges, and advancements of research in tactile sensing
and displays in a number of ongoing research projects in the areas of minimally invasive
surgery (MIS) and robotic minimally invasive surgery (RMIS), with the emphasis on
novel tactile sensing and display methods.
