Guest Editorial Haptics in the Metaverse: Haptic Feedback for Virtual, Augmented, Mixed, and eXtended Realities

• Published in: IEEE transactions on haptics Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 122 - 128
• Main Authors: Pacchierotti, Claudio, Chinello, Francesco, Koumaditis, Konstantinos, Luca, Massimiliano Di, Ofek, Eyal, Georgiou, Orestis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.04.2024; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Augmented reality; Extended reality; Feedback; Haptic interfaces; Haptics; Metaverse; Mixed reality; Special issues and sections; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1939-1412; 2329-4051
• DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2024.3369192

In The last few years, we have witnessed the rapid development of many innovative devices and original techniques for providing haptic sensations, e.g., using force feedback, mid-air interfaces [1], [2], props and encounter-type devices [3], [4], or exploiting perceptual phenomena with cross-modal effects such as pseudo-haptics [5]. While increasingly immersive and realistic experiences have developed at a fast pace, the emergence of a "metaverse" proposes new use cases where prolonged utilisation and social interactions become more frequent and widespread [6]. The metaverse definition is continuously evolving, however, for now it can been seen as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of the physical and digital worlds, where users interact, socialize, and engage with each other through digital representations of themselves. This new direction in social interactions presents the haptics community with new challenges and opportunities. Indeed, as eXtended Reality (XR) 1