New Haptic Display Technology from UC Santa Barbara Enables 3D Graphics You Can See and Feel
December 5, 2025 — Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have developed an innovative display technology that creates three-dimensional graphics which users can both see and physically feel. This breakthrough merges visual and tactile sensations using a novel approach involving arrays of “optotactile pixels” activated by projected light.
How the Technology Works
The display surfaces are engineered with tiny, millimeter-sized pixels, each capable of expanding outward to form perceptible bumps. When these pixels are illuminated by a low-power scanning laser, they rapidly heat an air cavity inside the pixel, causing the air to expand and push a thin graphite film outward by up to one millimeter. This physical deformation produces a tactile bump that users can feel with their fingertips, synchronized with a visible light display. By scanning the laser rapidly across many pixels, the system can generate dynamic graphics—contours, moving shapes, and characters—that are visually displayed and also convey tactile feedback in real time.
A key advantage of this technology is that the same light source provides both the illumination for the image and the energy needed to power the mechanical deformation of the pixels. Because the pixels require no embedded wiring or electronics, the displays can be made thinner and more scalable than many existing tactile displays.
Development and Prototype Success
The research was led by Ph.D. candidate Max Linnander in the RE Touch Lab under mechanical engineering professor Yon Visell. The idea originated in late 2021 when Visell challenged Linnander with a fundamental question: could the light that forms an image also be converted into something that can be physically felt?
After dedicated theoretical modeling, computer simulations, and months of prototype development, a breakthrough came in December 2022. Linnander demonstrated a simple prototype consisting of a single pixel that, when illuminated by a brief laser flash, produced a clear tactile pulse detectable by touch. This moment confirmed the feasibility of the core concept.
Since then, the team has advanced the technology to create displays with more than 1,500 independently addressable pixels—far exceeding previous tactile display capabilities. The system’s refresh rate is fast enough to allow continuous animations that users can simultaneously see and feel.
User Experience and Versatility
In user studies, participants reliably identified the position of individual illuminated pixels with millimeter precision and could perceive dynamic tactile graphics accurately. They demonstrated the ability to distinguish complex spatial and temporal tactile patterns, suggesting the system’s potential for generating diverse tactile content alongside visual information.
The technology’s design also draws inspiration from 19th-century experiments by Alexander Graham Bell, who explored turning modulated light into mechanical air vibrations. UC Santa Barbara’s team has successfully adapted these underlying principles to a modern, digital context.
Potential Applications and Future Impact
This visual-tactile display technology holds promise for a wide range of uses. Possible applications include:
- Automotive touchscreens that simulate the feel of physical controls for safer and more intuitive vehicle interfaces.
- Mobile computing devices and tablets featuring interactive, high-definition tactile graphics.
- Intelligent architectural walls that create immersive mixed-reality environments bridging digital content with physical sensation.
- Electronic books with touchable illustrations that come alive under the reader’s fingertips.
Professor Visell envisions these developments as enabling an entirely new dimension of interaction, where "anything you see, you can also feel." The team aims to scale up the technology further and explore integration with existing display projectors to create large-format, tactile-enhanced digital surfaces.
Publication and Source
The research titled “Tactile Displays Driven by Projected Light” was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Robotics in 2025 (DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adv1383). The article has undergone thorough editorial review to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the findings.
For more information, visit the University of California, Santa Barbara’s official page or view the original research article in Science Robotics.
Source: University of California – Santa Barbara, Science Robotics (2025)
Original article retrieved December 6, 2025, from TechXplore
