The growing adoption of extended reality (XR) has increased demand for wearable technologies that provide naturalistic tactile sensations while allowing users to interact freely with their environments using bare fingers. However, most existing wearable haptic devices support only a limited range of tactile modalities. Here, we introduce a soft haptic ring and a data-driven rendering methodology for generating multimodal texture sensations. The device integrates pneumatic and hydraulic actuation to render roughness, thermal, and softness cues on the proximal phalanx. The ring can generate forces up to 1.75 N, produce displacements up to 0.27 mm within a 30–300 Hz operating range, and modulate display temperature by up to 25 ∘[jls-end-space/]C within 65 s. The rendering methodology modulates these cues based on the user’s exploratory actions: the hydraulic actuator conveys perceived temperature during static contact, while the pneumatic actuator generates pressure and vibration cues to convey softness and roughness during pressing and sliding gestures, respectively. We evaluated the system in a user study with 15 participants who matched six virtual textures generated by the ring to their real counterparts and rated their perceived sensations using guided exploratory actions. Participants achieved an average texture-matching precision of 68% and an F1 score of 0.68. Adjective ratings confirmed that the ring produces distinct and perceptually rich stimuli across all rendered modalities. These findings demonstrate the potential of the proposed haptic ring and rendering methodology to deliver multimodal tactile cues away from the fingertip for immersive XR applications, enabling diverse tactile feedback while preserving natural physical interaction.

Haptic teleoperation is a promising technology with applications in telemaintenance and disaster management. However, it faces significant challenges when the application is subjected to a high network latency and environments with moving objects. This work aims to extend Model Mediated Teleoperation (MMT) to overcome challenges in supporting dynamic environments. Instead of striving for perfect model alignment, we acknowledge the inevitable mismatch between the remote environment and its model at the operator. We propose a set of design principles and an accompanying framework for designing MMT solutions that prioritize operator intent. Our approach is exemplified through an application where an operator, located 8000 km away (The Netherlands - India) and subjected to an average of 179 ms end-to-end latency, guides a robot arm to draw on a whiteboard whose position is actively altered. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach through a user study. We show a 3-point improvement on a 7-point Likert scale when users utilize our approach to teleoperate over significant network latency of up to 1 s.

Haptic bilateral teleoperation holds promise for applications such as telemaintenance, remote manipulation, and disaster response, yet delivering precise, low-latency force and video feedback remains challenging. This study advances haptic bilateral teleoperation by combining live video with Model Mediated Teleoperation (MMT) to enable predictive force feedback. While this method has benefits, several non-trivial challenges, such as synchronizing the model with user's and remote robot's actions, arise. A novel algorithm is developed that allows the robotic device to replicate interactions predictively experienced by the operator. We validated this approach in a fully functional system that performs reliably despite significant network delays. The latency performance of the system is extensively characterized, achieving a motion-to-pixel latency of 58 ms. A user study revealed that operators did not perceive network latency of at least 75 ms, resulting in a 133 ms motion-to-pixel delay requirement. Additionally, a 5G latency analysis demonstrated that effective haptic teleoperation is achievable with both operator and remote ends connected via 5G. This provides a path away from strict latency requirements toward practical teleoperation solutions using currently available technology.