A Survey of Tactile Sensors and Displays

In order to enhance reality of a virtual object and handling skill of a robot, tactile sensation provides essential information used by a human being and a robot. Key parts for the human being and the robot are a tactile sensor and a tactile display, respectively. Firstly, optical tactile sensors are demonstrated to explain sensor design. Second, the tactile display is described to show that human sensation mechanism should be considered for the display specification. Finally, several applications for the tactile sensor and display are exemplified to discus effectiveness of the tactile sensor and display.