Researchers create 3D displays that can be seen and felt using optotactile surfaces — millimeter-scale pixels rise into perceptible bumps when struck by brief pulses of projected light

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have demonstrated a display technology that renders dynamic graphics that can be both seen and physically felt, according to a new study published in Science Robotics. The work introduces thin optotactile surfaces populated with millimeter-scale pixels that rise into perceptible bumps when struck by brief pulses of projected light.

The project began with a simple question UCSB Professor Yon Visell posed in 2021: could the same light that draws an image also generate a…