Virtual reality has created textures that, to the touch, are indistinguishable from the real thing

Researchers at Viterbi University's School of Engineering have developed a new method to produce believable textures in virtual reality.

Haptic sensations are an important part of how people perceive reality. Haptic sensations, or devices that can create the right vibrations to mimic the sensation of touch, are a way to make virtual reality more believable.

The new framework uses the way people distinguish details of certain textures to create virtual counterparts.

The authors asked users to compare their sensations between real and virtual textures. The model then iteratively updates the virtual texture so that it can eventually match the real one.

Using this preference-based model, the user is first given a real texture to touch, then the model randomly generates three virtual textures, using dozens of variables, from which the user can then choose the one that feels most similar to the real thing.

Over time, the framework adjusts its distribution of variables as it gets closer and closer to what the person chooses.

The only thing the user has to do is choose which texture is best and adjust the degree of friction with a simple slider. Friction is important to how we perceive textures, and it can vary in perception from person to person.