Haptic perception by metabolic, toxic and/or immunologic factors. Examples of medical conditions that can cause neuropathies are diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, thyroid dysfunction (hyper- and hypothyroidism) as well as hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and alcohol dependency. Loss of the sense of touch is a catastrophic deficit that can impair walking and other skilled actions such as holding objects or using tools. Immersive environments can recreate the feeling of haptic interaction. Exoskeletal gloves such as the Exo-Skin Soft Haptic exoskeletal interface, developed at Drexel University, can be programmed to take a patient through a program of physical therapy exercises to retrain muscles and
Haptic technology world via a tool or stylus, giving a form of interaction that is computationally realistic on today's hardware. Systems are being developed to use haptic interfaces for 3D modeling and design that are intended to give artists a virtual experience of real interactive modeling. Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed 3D holograms that can be "touched" through haptic feedback using "acoustic radiation" to create a pressure sensation on a user's hands (see future section). The researchers, led by Hiroyuki Shinoda, had the technology on display at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans. Several companies are making full-body or torso