Programmable and Ultrasensitive Haptic Interfaces Enabling Closed-Loop Human-Machine Interactions

Intuitive, efficient, and unconstrained interactions require human-machine interfaces (HMIs) to accurately recognize users' manipulation intents. Susceptibility to interference and conditional usage mode of HMIs will lead to poor experiences that limit their great interaction potential. Herein, a programmable and ultrasensitive haptic interface enabling closed-loop human-machine interactions is reported. A cross-scale architecture design strategy is proposed to fabricate the haptic interface, which optimizes the hierarchical contact process. The synergistic optimization of the cross-scale architecture between carbon nanotubes and the multiscale sensing structure realizes a haptic interface with ultrahigh sensitivity and a wide detection range of 15.1 kPa(-1) and 180 kPa, which are improved by more than 900% over the performance of the common interface. The rapid response time of <5 ms and the limit of detection of 8 Pa of the haptic interface far surpass the somatosensory perception of human skin, which enables the haptic interface to accurately recognize interactive intents. A wireless pressure-data interactive glove (wireless PDI glove) is designed and realizes a round-the-clock operation, noise immunity, and efficient interactive control, which perfectly compensate for the flaws of typical vision and voice recognition modes.