Researchers have built a machine that renders holograms touchable, adding to a growing body of “telehaptic” prototypes released in 2015.
The holographic machine is called Haptoclone and was developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo. It consists of two boxes, one containing an object and the other displaying a hologram of that object. If a user puts her hand into the second box to interact with the hologram, she’ll feel it—thanks to ultrasonic radiation pressure emitted onto her hand.
The tactile sensation is pretty realistic. When a Gizmodo reporter tried it, she said she could tell that the holographic ball she was interacting with was made of inflated plastic–just by “touching” the hologram. When a Motherboard reporter tried Haptoclone, she described feeling a holographic rendering of a human hand as “strange bubble-like sensations” that emanated from her fingertips.
The technology is limited for now. It can only emit a “safe” level of ultrasound radiation, meaning that the degree of tactile feedback it can simulate is confined to things like lightly stroking an object. It can’t yet emulate a handshake or a bear-hug, as Motherboard noted.