HydroRing: Supporting Mixed Reality Haptics Using Liquid Flow

Current haptic devices are often bulky and rigid, making them unsuitable for ubiquitous interaction and scenarios where the user must also interact with the real world. To address this gap, we propose HydroRing, an unobtrusive, finger-worn device that can provide the tactile sensations of pressure, vibration, and temperature on the fingertip, enabling mixed-reality haptic interactions. Different from previous explorations, HydroRing in active mode delivers sensations using liquid travelling through a thin, flexible latex tube worn across the fingerpad, and has minimal impact on a user’s dexterity and their perception of stimuli in passive mode. Two studies evaluated participants’ ability to perceive and recognize sensations generated by the device, as well as their ability to perceive physical stimuli while wearing the device. We conclude by exploring several applications leveraging this mixed-reality haptics approach.