# How Haptic Sharing Technology Opens a New Future | Yoshihiro Tanaka | TEDxAnjo Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjIFpQP9M-s Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/yjIFpQP9M-s Generated: 2026-02-05T17:39:04.388+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Yoshihiro Tanaka explores how haptic sharing technology, which transmits tactile sensations like texture and pressure via the internet, can preserve and transfer skilled crafts like pottery, enabling a participant to experience the expert's touch remotely through an avatar robot system. **Key Points:** - The presentation explores communicating tactile sensations (touch) to share skilled craftsmanship, contrasting it with the well-understood visual sense (RGB color model). - Tactile sensation involves multiple factors like friction, vibration (for texture), and force/stroke/contact area (for hardness), which are sensed through various corpuscles in the skin. - The speaker notes that tactile information is often not explicitly communicated, unlike visual information which is easily recorded and reproduced. - Tanaka developed a system where an expert's touch on an object (like clay in pottery) is recorded and transmitted to a participant operating an avatar robot, allowing the participant to feel the expert's movements. - The experiment demonstrated that even with an expert's touch transferred via the robot, the tactile experience (e.g., force, vibration) felt by the participant was different from the original, suggesting the body/skin plays a crucial role in perception. - The goal is to create a shared tactile experience system that not only transmits movement but also the subtle tactile feelings, potentially preserving lost artisan skills through remote experience and education. ![Screenshot at 09:35: Illustration showing an expert \(right\) and a participant \(left\) controlling an avatar robot performing pottery, demonstrating the concept of shared tactile sensation transfer.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-09-35.jpg) **Context:** Haptic Researcher Yoshihiro Tanaka presents his work at TEDxAnjo on the challenge of communicating tactile sensations, specifically contrasting the well-established method of recording and reproducing visual information (like the RGB color model) with the difficulty of sharing 'touch.' He focuses on how physical skills, such as pottery craftsmanship, rely heavily on subtle tactile feedback which is not easily digitized or shared. ## Detailed Analysis Yoshihiro Tanaka begins by highlighting the fundamental difference between visual sense and tactile sense. Visual sense is easily recorded and reproduced using the three primary colors (Red, Blue, Green), but tactile sense, which includes texture (friction and vibration) and hardness (force, stroke, and contact area), is complex and not easily quantified or shared. He points out that we rarely consciously consider the specific information our skin uses to perceive texture versus hardness, and that tactile information is often lost when skills are passed down. To address this, Tanaka's research focuses on sharing tactile information through an avatar robot system. He demonstrates an experiment involving pottery where an expert and a participant control the robot simultaneously; the expert's movements and visual input are transmitted to the robot, and the robot's tactile feedback from touching the clay is transmitted back to both operators. The experiment showed that the participant could indeed feel the expert's actions, but critically, the felt sensation differed from the original expert experience, indicating that our physical body's interaction (e.g., the role of the nail) is integral to the final perception. The ultimate goal is to develop technology that allows for the sharing of these nuanced tactile experiences, potentially preserving artisan skills for future generations by allowing remote experience and education. ### Introduction to Tactile Sensation - Visual sense explained via RGB color mixing (Red, Blue, Green) - Tactile sense relies on mechanical receptors (Meissner corpuscle, Merkel cell, Ruffini ending, Pacinian corpuscle) detecting friction, vibration, force, and pressure. ### The Challenge of Haptic Communication - Texture is perceived via friction and vibration when sliding the finger (03:50), while hardness is perceived via force and contact area when pressing (04:11) - Human tactile perception is highly personalized (06:15), making direct sharing difficult. ### Haptic Sharing System Demonstration - An avatar robot system allows two operators (Operator A and Operator B) to control the robot simultaneously, sharing movement and visual feedback (09:10) - Tactile sensation from the robot's hands is fed back to both operators (09:24), allowing for shared experience. ### Ceramics Experiment Results - Experts and participants collaborated to throw pottery using the robot (09:35) - Direct feedback from the expert's touch (like the nail supporting the fingertip, 05:16) is lost when transmitted through the system, resulting in different tactile perceptions for the participant (10:13). ### Future Implications - The research aims to create a system where tactile experiences can be shared digitally (10:51) - This could enable the preservation and transmission of traditional artisan skills (like pottery) that are currently at risk of being lost (08:47). ![Screenshot at 00:03: Title slide displaying the presentation title "Field of Gratitude" over abstract colorful art.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-00-03.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:05: Introduction slide showing Haptics Researcher Yoshihiro Tanaka.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-00-05.jpg) ![Screenshot at 02:35: Slide contrasting 'Visual sense' \(RGB color Venn diagram\) with 'Tactile sense' \(diagram of skin cross-section with sensory receptors\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-02-35.jpg) ![Screenshot at 03:50: Diagram illustrating how texture \(sliding motion, friction force, vibration\) and hardness \(pressing motion, force & stroke, contact area\) are sensed differently.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-03-50.jpg) ![Screenshot at 09:35: Demonstration setup showing two operators \(Participant with VR headset, Expert\) controlling an avatar robot performing pottery simultaneously.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/yjIFpQP9M-s/00-09-35.jpg)