Greg Reardon, UCSB: Wave-Mediated Haptics: Leveraging Wave Transport for Dynamic Tactile Feedback

Speaker: Greg Reardon, PhD Candidate, University of California Santa Barbara, RE Touch Lab
Title: Wave-Mediated Haptics: Leveraging Wave Transport for Dynamic Tactile Feedback
Introduction by Ed Colgate, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Robotics and Biosystems, Northwestern University
Date and Time: Thursday, November 9 at 12:00 PM CT
Location: IEMS C211 and Zoom
Abstract:
A longstanding goal in haptics is to engineer software-programmable displays that can render spatially- and temporally-resolved tactile feedback in ways that are analogous to graphical displays. This objective is extraordinarily challenging due to the sensitivity and complexity of the skin and underlying sensory processing. In this talk, I will detail my work on wave-mediated haptic displays, an emerging class of display techniques that leverage wave transport to deliver software-programmable tactile feedback. I will describe the operating principle and design of new wave-mediated surface haptic displays, along with computational techniques that enable high-resolution haptic rendering by accounting for wave physics. I will also describe research elucidating the prominent role of wave phenomena, including shear shock formation, in mediating haptic feedback delivered by mid-air holographic haptic displays. Together, my work highlights the many research opportunities enabled by emerging wave-mediated haptic technologies and their transformative potential for applications in augmented and virtual reality, computing, and robotics.
Bio:
Gregory Reardon is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he conducts research on new frontiers in haptics in the RE Touch Lab, directed by Prof. Yon Visell. His research interests include haptic science and engineering at the intersection of mechanics, computation, and perception. He previously completed a master’s degree in Music Technology at New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics-Economics at Brown University. Publications by him and his colleagues have received several accolades, including two best paper awards for research on wave-mediated haptics (IEEE Haptics Symposium, 2020; IEEE World Haptics Conference, 2023), an honorable mention for research on wearable technologies for tactile sign language (IEEE Haptics Symposium, 2022), and an honorable mention for research on tactile augmented reality technologies (IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2022).

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