A soft and lightweight fabric-based pneumatic interface for multimodal fingertip tactile feedback

Abstract

Wearable fingertip haptic devices are critical for realistic interaction in virtual reality, augmented reality, and teleoperation, yet existing approaches struggle to simultaneously achieve adequate tactile output, low mass, simple fabrication, and untethered portability. Here we show that fabric-based pneumatic actuation can address this gap. Our device comprises four pneumatic chambers fabricated from thermoplastic polyurethane-coated fabric via computer numerical control heat-sealing, yielding a soft, conformable interface weighing 2.1 g that operates untethered with a wrist-mounted control unit. Mechanical and dynamic characterization confirms that the fabric actuators produce sufficient force, displacement, and bandwidth for fingertip tactile rendering. A psychophysical study with 15 participants demonstrates classification accuracy exceeding 90% across three distinct tactile modes -- contact configuration, directional sliding, and vibrotactile frequency. These findings establish fabric-based pneumatic actuation as a viable technology route for lightweight, low-cost, and multimodal fingertip haptic interfaces.