Vibrotactile rendering of virtual textures in Unity for immersive teleoperation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/ja-cea.2026.47.13850Keywords:
Haptic glove, Vibrotactile feedback, Texture rendering, Virtual reality, Robotic teleoperationAbstract
This work presents a vibrotactile texture rendering model implemented in Unity for integration with a portable haptic glove based on vibrating thimbles. Unlike binary haptic feedback, which is limited to indicating contact with virtual objects, the proposed approach generates variable stimuli associated with surface properties such as roughness, smoothness, and relief. The model computes vibrotactile intensity from finger–object contact, tangential exploration velocity, surface normal variation, and changes in height maps associated with the virtual material. The resulting signal is converted into independent PWM values for each finger, allowing the vibration of the glove actuators to be modulated individually. This approach aims to enrich immersive teleoperation by providing additional tactile information about manipulated objects, with the goal of improving contact perception, texture discrimination, and the naturalness of remote interaction in virtual environments.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Johnny Javier Yépez-Figueroa, Edwin Daniel Oña, Carlos Balaguer, Alberto Jardón
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