Creating Mouth Haptics in VR

The engineers from Carnegie Mellon University created a thin, compact, beamforming array of ultrasonic transducers that can render haptic effects onto the mouth. The invention will let the user feel what's going on in virtual reality with their lips, teeth, and tongue.

The researchers explored several effects, including point impulses, swipes, and vibrations. All components are integrated into the headset, meaning the user doesn't need to wear any additional accessories. 

The authors made several demos where the person wearing the headset can experience the feeling of brushing their teeth, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and, strangely enough, having spiders crawl over their mouth.

The researchers believe the technology can be incorporated into new and interesting VR experiences.

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