Tactile display applications: a state of the art survey

Tactation is the sensation perceived by the sense of touch. Kinesthetic information describes the relative positions and movements of body parts as well as muscular effort when touching and manipulating objects. Haptic perception involves both tactile perception through the skin and kinesthetic perception of the position and movement of the joints and muscles,through the skin of our fingers and the position of our fingers. A tactile display is a human-computer interface that utilizes tactile only signals to reproduce the tactile parameters of an object such as shape, surface texture, roughness and temperature. Tactile interfaces are used in virtual environments, and as a complement or substitution of the visual or auditory presentation of information. In this paper we present a review of the state of the art regarding the latest applications and software for tactile interfaces, in areas such as graphic display, medicine, military and engineering aiding the sensory impaired.