Haptic technology Air vortex rings are donut-shaped air pockets that are concentrated gusts of air. Focused air vortices can have the force to blow out a candle or disturb papers from a few yards away. Two specific companies have done research using air vortices as a source for non-contact haptic feedback. In 2013, Disney worked on a technology they called AIREAL. This system delivered non-contact haptic feedback through the use of air vortex rings. According to Disney, AIREAL helps users experience textures and "touch" virtual 3D objects in free space. This is all without the need for a glove or any other
Haptic technology engineers in London as part of The Shadow Project, now known as the Shadow Robot Company, an ongoing research and development program whose goal is to complete the first convincing artificial humanoid. An early prototype can be seen in NASA's collection of humanoid robots, or robonauts. The Shadow Hand has haptic sensors embedded in every joint and finger pad, which relay information to a central computer for processing and analysis. Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and Bielefeld University in Germany found The Shadow Hand to be an invaluable tool in advancing the understanding of haptic awareness, and in 2006 they