REVEL: A Tactile Feedback Technology for Augmented Reality

REVEL is an augmented reality (AR) tactile technology that allows users wearing an interactive device to change the tactile feeling of real objects by augmenting them with virtual tactile texture. Unlike previous attempts to enhance AR environments with haptics, REVEL neither physically actuates objects or uses any force- or tactile-feedback devices, nor does it require users to wear tactile gloves or other equipment on their hands. Instead, it employs the principle of reverse electrovibration to inject a weak electrical signal anywhere on the user's body, creating an oscillating electrical field around the user’s fingers. With a finger slide on a surface of the object, the user perceives highly distinctive tactile textures that augment the physical object. By tracking the objects and location of the touch, the system associates dynamic tactile sensations to the interaction context.

REVEL is built upon previous work on designing electrovibration-based tactile feedback for touch surfaces [Bau, et al. 2010]. This project expands tactile interfaces based on electrovibration beyond touch surfaces and brings them into the real world.