Laboratory for Human and Machine Haptics : The Touch Lab

The work in the Touch Lab (formal name: Laboratory for Human and Machine Haptics) is guided by a broad vision of haptics which includes all aspects of information acquisition and object manipulation through touch by humans, machines, or a combination of the two; and the environments can be real or virtual. We conduct research in multiple disciplines such as skin biomechanics, tactile neuroscience, human haptic perception, robot design and control, mathematical modeling and simulation, and software engineering for real-time human-computer interactions. These scientific and technological research areas converge in the context of specific application areas such as the development of virtual reality based simulators for training surgeons, haptic aids for people who are blind, real-time haptic interactions between people across the Internet, and direct control of machines from neural signals in the brain.