Experience beyond vision: feeling X-Rays and videos with a soft robot, SORI - Redefining Perception

What is it about?

Sharing an experience is often effortless in today's digital age, where texts, sounds, images, and videos can be swiftly transmitted. However, conveying a tactile sensation presents a unique challenge. Human fingers are equipped with mechanoreceptors and intricate structures that discern differences among various materials and combinations thereof. To comprehend and replicate tactile sensations, we must distinguish between cutaneous feedback, sensed through the skin, and kinesthetic feedback, perceived through the joints. Introducing a groundbreaking robotic platform, we've successfully decoupled these feedback mechanisms and rendered them palpable. Recognizing that diverse finger sizes and pressures yield distinct experiences, we propose a comprehensive model capable of standardizing user interactions. This robotic device not only reproduces digitized feedback but also generates novel data, enriching our understanding of how humans perceive the world through physical contact.

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Photo by Yoann Boyer on Unsplash

Photo by Yoann Boyer on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We envision that the presented model and robotic platform, equipped with cutting-edge soft robotics technologies and an origami robot mechanism, can significantly enhance our lives, enabling us to share experiences beyond our current capabilities. For instance, we can replicate the sensation of astronauts touching lunar rocks in space and explore buried treasures 4 km under the sea using real-life contact force data. Moreover, we can augment experiences with previously unattainable data: leveraging images like MRI and ultrasound scans, we can generate specific tactile modulations to create physical profiles with varying textures. This breakthrough enables doctors not only to visualize tumors on screens but also to feel them. Expectant parents can now not only see their unborn infant but also feel their movements. The potential applications for education, healthcare, and exploration are vast, promising, and thrilling.

Perspectives