HCC: Medium: Language-guided Haptic Texture Modeling and Signal Generation

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $850,000 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project seeks to make it easier for designers to add realistic and expressive touch sensations (i.e., haptic feedback), such as vibrations and textures, to digital experiences such as virtual reality, gaming, smartphones, and medical training systems. Currently, creating effective haptic feedback requires specialized knowledge in areas like human perception, data processing, and haptic hardware, which limits who can design these experiences. This research aims to lower those barriers by developing tools that allow designers to use everyday language, such as the descriptions "a rough brick wall" or "a gentle heartbeat", to guide the creation and refinement of haptic effects. By simplifying this process, this work could help expand the use of virtual touch in a wide range of applications and make designing interactive systems more accessible for a wide range of designers. The project will also produce open datasets and software tools that can be used by other researchers and developers. This research will develop language-guided, iterative methods for generating haptic models, such as surface textures, and vibrotactile signals to enable human-AI co-creation of touch experiences. Building on prior work in iterative haptic texture modeling through evolutionary search, the project will integrate natural language processing techniques to allow designers to specify initial physical descriptions (e.g., "a smooth ceramic tile") and provide corrective language feedback (e.g.,

Key facts

NSF award ID
2504241
Awardee
University of Southern California (CA)
SAM.gov UEI
G88KLJR3KYT5
PI
Heather Culbertson
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
MEDIUM PROJECT, Cyber-Human Systems
Estimated total
$850,000
Funds obligated
$850,000
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
10/01/2025 → 09/30/2029