November 15, 2002

Using High-Speed Links, Researchers Transmit Sensation of Touch Across the Atlantic

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology teamed up with colleagues at University College London last month to demonstrate how a sensation of touch can be carried across an ocean over high-speed networks.

In a demonstration organized for a meeting of the Internet2 consortium, researchers completed what may be the first trans-Atlantic task involving the use of "haptic" -- or touch-signal -- devices attached to a robotic arm and a computer. Two researchers, one