{"id":480351,"date":"2018-04-18T09:09:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T16:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?p=480351"},"modified":"2018-04-20T18:09:25","modified_gmt":"2018-04-21T01:09:25","slug":"uncanny-valley-sense-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/blog\/uncanny-valley-sense-touch\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncanny Valley and the Sense of Touch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The notion of an \u201cuncanny valley\u201d is well known in robotics[1]. This is when increasing the realism of a robot\u2019s human-like appearance can lead to feelings of unease\u2014or even revulsion\u2014as a robot becomes more and more (but never quite fully) human-like[2].<\/p>\n
While this uncanny valley is related to sight, researchers wondered if an uncanny valley experience also exists for the sense of touch\u2014also known as haptics.<\/p>\n
In a paper recently published in Science Robotics (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>[3], a group of Microsoft researchers put forward a new theory of haptics interaction that identifies an uncanny valley for the sense of touch. Their research suggests that when the haptics are not aligned with the rest of the sensory stimulation, it can hinder the experience. The researchers believe that this research will create a new school of thought among designers of touch-enabled interactions and devices.<\/p>\n Researchers Mar Gonzalez Franco (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, Eyal Ofek (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, Ken Hinckley (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> and Christopher Berger (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, a visiting researcher from California Institute of Technology, chose the platform of virtual reality (VR) as a testbed. VR is a great tool for revealing the strange and otherworldly foundation of our everyday sensory perceptions. We can use VR to produce a sensation of touch that feels like it originates in the completely empty space between one\u2019s hands, while holding two controllers.<\/p>\n Each controller provides the user with synchronous vibrotactile stimuli of different amplitudes. In the virtual environment, we show the participant a wooden dowel that they grip with each hand. The dowel is only imaginary, of course; the hands are not physically linked and the dowel does not exist. We then show a small white marble that seems to knock on the dowel at different locations as we vary the vibratory sensations.<\/p>\n