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Review
. 2024 Oct 29;24(21):6946.
doi: 10.3390/s24216946.

A Narrative Review of Haptic Technologies and Their Value for Training, Rehabilitation, and the Education of Persons with Special Needs

Eloy Irigoyen  1 , Mikel Larrea  2 , Manuel Graña  3
Affiliations
Review

A Narrative Review of Haptic Technologies and Their Value for Training, Rehabilitation, and the Education of Persons with Special Needs

Eloy Irigoyen et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Haptic technologies are increasingly valuable for human-computer interaction in its many flavors, including, of course, virtual reality systems, which are becoming very useful tools for education, training, and rehabilitation in many areas of medicine, engineering, and daily life. There is a broad spectrum of technologies and approaches that provide haptic stimuli, ranging from the well-known force feedback to subtile pseudo-haptics and visual haptics. Correspondingly, there is a broad spectrum of applications and system designs that include haptic technologies as a relevant component and interaction feature. Paramount is their use in training of medical procedures, but they appear in a plethora of systems deploying virtual reality applications. This narrative review covers the panorama of haptic devices and approaches and the most salient areas of application. Special emphasis is given to education of persons with special needs, aiming to foster the development of innovative systems and methods addressing the enhancement of the quality of life of this segment of the population.

Keywords: childhood special education; educational tools; haptic technology; learning process; pedagogical rehabilitation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Environment–user virtual interactions: (a) Touching: Generating sensations such as pain, pressure, temperature, etc. [11,12,13]. (b) Smelling: Producing sensitivity to odors, aromas, flavors, etc. [14,15]. (c) Listening: Transmitting sounds, rhythms, tunes, etc. [16,17]. (d) Feelings: Eliciting emotions and comfort atmosphere [18]. (e) Vision: Generating accessible virtual environments [19,20,21].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Haptic technologies and their relation with other technologies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multi-sensor/actuator-based medical developments. Wearable solutions to improve the perception processes: (a) TechARM: Electrode units to emit and record different stimuli [17]. (b) Teslasuit: Physical suit providing haptic feedback and capture motion and biometrics [85]. (c) Medical education enhanced by haptic devices [79].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Interaction with the environment: (a) Meta—Inside Reality Labs: Bringing Touch to the Virtual World [31]. (b) Teenage Engineering Rumble: a bolt-on haptic subwoofer for the OP-Z [16]. (c) Hapticast: Haptic weekly podcast filled with gaming news [106].
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