Stiffness Perception of Virtual Objects Using FOLDAWAY-Touch

Haptic human interfaces are nowadays becoming more and more diffused also thanks to their combined use with Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality (VR & AR). Although many research platforms explore kinesthetic interaction with virtual objects, the only feedback available in widespread commercial devices is a rather simple vibration. In this paper we introduce “FOLDWAY-Touch” a novel portable kinesthetic haptic interface whose technology can be easily integrated into hand-held devices. The key technological aspect is the miniaturization of the haptic mechanism achieved through the use of origami design and manufacturing principles. Another achievement of this paper is the use of FOLDAWAY-Touch in a virtual simulation to grasp objects with different levels of stiffness.