We research haptics, robotics, and interactive technologies.

We design haptic devices, create soft or wearable robots inspired by humans and other animals. Our work is informed by opportunities in a spectrum of application domains. In fundamental science, our research clarifies fundamental mechanisms of physical interaction (i.e. haptics), including interrelated processes of touch perception and action. The lab is directed by Professor Yon Visell. He has broad expertise in engineering, has served in prominent professional roles in haptics, and has has held positions in academia, in industry, and at science, art, and engineering entities in North America and Europe. Visell’s bio…

Our lab includes an inspiring group of engineers, artists, and scientists. It is part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and is affiliated with the Media Arts and Technology Program, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering the Dynamic Systems, Control, and Robotics and several other UCSB research centers. Our research comprises nearly 100 pulished works. It has received a dozen awards from prominent academic venues.

News and Events

10.2025 Our paper, Tactile displays driven by projected light, is now published in the journal Science Robotics. The displays are fast, can readily be scaled up in size and pixel count, can be efficiently reproduced, and are cost effective. Brief pulses of light from a low power scanning laser drive arrays of pixels populating an energetically passive surface, yielding fast, dynamic tactile graphics. Each optotactile pixel exploits thermodynamics to convert part of the incident light into localized forces and displacements, emitting the rest as visible light. Links and details below. This is work from our lab, led by Max Linnander.

07.2025 Our demonstration HLEDs: Haptic Light Emitting Diodes received an award - make that two awards! - at IEEE World Haptics Conference: One for Overall Best Demonstration (expert jury) and One for People’s Choice for Best Demonstration (by popular vote). Max Linnander led this work, with coauthors Dustin Goetz and Prof. Visell. Stay tuned for our related paper.

07.2025 Congratulations to lab alumnus Dr. Gregory Reardon who was recognized for the Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award in the field of haptics from 2024. The award is sponsored by the EuroHaptics Society. Dr. Reardon is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University.

10.2024 Check out our preprint reporting a new tactile display driven by projected light [PDF]. The displays are fast and can scale to thousands of pixels, or large areas, cost-efficiently. They fast use photons rather than electrons, directly converting projected light into visible tactile patterns. Update: Now published in Science Robotics, see news item above. Work led by Max Linnander.

1.2024 Celebrating the publication of two more works from our group. Our article, Interpersonal Transmission of Vibrotactile Feedback via Smart Bracelets: Mechanics and Perception, was recently published at IEEE Transactions on Haptics. It was authored by Taku Hachisu, Gregory Reardon, Yitian Shao, Kenji Suzuki, and Yon Visell. Another new paper, SkinSource: A Data-Driven Toolbox for Predicting Touch-Elicited Vibrations in the Upper Limb, with authors Neeli Tummala, Greg Reardon, Simone Fani, Dustin Goetz, Matteo Bianchi (Univ. Pisa), and Yon Visell, reports a new toolbox and dataset simulating upper limb tactile biomechanics for haptics, neuroscience, and biomechanics. It was accepted for the Proceedings of IEEE Haptics Symposium 2024.

12.2023 A preprint, Pre-neuronal biomechanical filtering modulates and diversifies whole-hand tactile encoding, by Neeli Tummala, with coauthors Greg Reardon, Bharat Dandu, Yitian Shao, Hannes Saal (Sheffield Univ.), and Yon Visell, is available on Bioarxiv. We would appreciate any feedback on this work, which is the culmination of a major effort led by Neeli.

7.2023 Our paper, Rendering Dynamic Source Motion in Surface Haptics via Wave Focusing, won the Best Paper Award in the Transactions on Haptics (Journal) paper track at IEEE World Haptics 2023. See details below. Congrats to authors Greg Reardon, Dustin Goetz, Max Linnander, and Prof. Visell. Greg Reardon’s presentation of the same paper was also nominated in the Best Presentation category. See PDF and details below.

7.2023 Neeli Tummala’s presentation of our research, entitled, Biomechanical filtering diversifies whole-hand tactile encoding, received a Best Presentation Award at the 2023 Festival of Touch. Congrats to authors Neeli Tummala, Prof. Hannes Saal, and Prof. Visell.

7.2023 Former RE Touch Lab postdoc Tung Nguyen-Dáng is starting a tenure-track faculty position at VIN university in Vietnam. Congrats!

2.2023 A new paper from our lab, entitled Shear Shock Waves Mediate Haptic Holography via Focused Ultrasound, led by Greg Reardon is published in the journal Science Advances. See link and details below.

Recent Publications (Selected)

(see longer list of past papers, or Google Scholar)

M. Linnander, Y. Visell
Haptic Light-Emitting Diodes: Miniature, Luminous Tactile Actuators.
Coming soon, 2026. [arXiv preprint]

N. Tummala, G. Reardon, B. Dandu, Y. Shao, H. Saal, Y. Visell
Biomechanical filtering supports efficient tactile encoding in the human hand
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2026. To appear. (An earlier preprint.)

M. Linnander, D. Goetz, G. Reardon, V. Kumar, E. Hawkes, Y. Visell
Tactile Displays Driven by Projected Light. [PDF]
Videos: Operation, Single Pixel, Scanning, Multi-pixel, Thermomechanical, Pixel Design Parameters
Science Robotics, 2025.

N. Tummala, G. Reardon, S. Fani, D. Goetz, M. Bianchi, Y. Visell
SkinSource: A Data-Driven Toolbox for Predicting Touch-Elicited Vibrations in the Upper Limb.
Proc. IEEE Haptics Symposium, 2024. 🏆

A. Ivani, M. Catalano, G. Grioli, M. Bianchi, Y. Visell, A. Bicchi
Tactile Perception in Upper Limb Prostheses. [PDF]
IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2024.

G. Reardon, B. Dandu, Y. Shao, Y. Visell,
Shear Shock Waves Mediate Haptic Holography via Focused Ultrasound. [PDF]
Science Advances, 2023.

G. Reardon, D. Goetz, M. Linnander, Y. Visell,
Rendering Dynamic Source Motion in Surface Haptics via Wave Focusing. [PDF]
IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2023. 🏆 🏅

D. Goetz*, G. Reardon*, Max Linnander, Y. Visell,
Dynamic Haptic Feedback in Wave-Mediated Surface Haptics: A Modular Platform. [PDF]
Proc. IEEE World Haptics Conference, 2023.

N. Kastor*, B. Dandu*, V. Bassari, G. Reardon, Y. Visell,
Ferrofluid Electromagnetic Actuators for High-Fidelity Haptic Feedback.
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2023.

B. Dandu, Y. Shao, Y. Visell,
Rendering Spatiotemporal Haptic Effects via the Physics of Waves in the Skin.
IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 14 (2), 2020. 🏅

N. Tummala, Y. Shao, Y. Visell,
Spatiotemporal Organization of Touch Information in Tactile Neuron Population Responses. [PDF]
Proc. IEEE World Haptics Conference, 2023.

T. Hachisu, G. Reardon, Y. Shao, K. Suzuki, Y. Visell,
Interpersonal Transmission of Vibrotactile Feedback via Smart Bracelets: Mechanics and Perception.
IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2023.

M. Zhu, A. Ferstera, S. Dinulescu, N. Kastor, M. Linnander, E. Hawkes, Y. Visell,
A Peristaltic Soft, Wearable Robot for Compression and Massage Therapy. [PDF]
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2023.

T. Nguyen-Dáng et al.,
Dual-mode organic electrochemical transistors based on self-doped conjugated polyelectrolytes for reconfigurable electronics.
Advanced Materials, 2022.

M. Zhu, S. Biswas, S. Dinulescu, N. Kastor, E. Hawkes, Y. Visell,
Soft, Wearable Robotics and Haptics: Technologies, Trends, and Emerging Applications.
Proceedings of the IEEE, 2022.

T. Nguyen-Dáng et al.,
Efficient Fabrication of Organic Electrochemical Transistors via Wet Chemical Processing.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022.

S. Dinulescu, N. Tummala, G. Reardon, B. Dandu, D. Goetz, S. Topp, Y. Visell,
A Smart Bracelet Supporting Tactile Communication and Interaction.
Proc. IEEE Haptics Symposium, 2022. 🏅

T. Nguyen-Dáng et al.,
Biomaterial-based Solid-Electrolyte Organic Electrochemical Transistors for Electronic and Neuromorphic Applications.
Advanced Electronic Materials, 2021.

Y. Peng, C. Serfass, A. Kawazoe, Y. Shao, K. Gutierrez, C. Hill, V. Santos. Y. Visell, L. Hsiao,
Elastohydrodynamic friction of robotic and human fingers on soft micropatterned substrates.
Nature Materials, April, 2021.

A. Kawazoe, G. Reardon, E. Woo, M. Di Luca, Y. Visell,
Tactile Echoes: Multisensory Augmented Reality for the Hand.
IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2021. 🏅 Featured in IEEE Spectrum.

S. Biswas, Y. Visell,
Haptic Perception, Mechanics, and Material Technologies for Virtual Reality.
Advanced Functional Materials, 2021.

Y. Hao, Y. Visell,
Beyond Soft Hands: Efficient Grasping with Non-Anthropomorphic Soft Grippers.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2021.

Y. Hao, S. Biswas, E. Hawkes, T. Wang, M. Zhu, L. Wen, Y. Visell,
A Multimodal, Enveloping Soft Gripper: Shape Conformation, Bioinspired Adhesion, and Expansion-Driven Suction. [PDF]
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2020. arxiv.org:1912.970438

Y. Shao, V. Hayward, Y. Visell,
Compression of Dynamic Tactile Information in the Human Hand. [PDF] [Supplement]
Science Advances, 6:eaaz158, 2020. Featured in Science Podcast.

M. Zhu, T. N. Do, E. W. Hawkes, Y. Visell,
Fluidic Fabric Muscle Sheets for Wearable and Soft Robotics. [PDF]
Soft Robotics 7 (2) 2020. Cover article (April, 2020).  Highly cited article.

S. Biswas, Y. Shao, T. Hachisu, T. Nguyen-Dang, Y. Visell.
Integrated Soft Optoelectronics for Wearable Health Monitoring. [PDF]
Advanced Materials Technologies, 2020.

Y. Shao, H. Hui, Y. Visell,
A Wearable Tactile Sensor Array for Large Area Remote Vibration Sensing in the Hand. [PDF]
IEEE Sensors Journal 20 (12), 2020.

G. Reardon, N. Kastor, Y. Shao, Y. Visell,
Elastowave: Localized Tactile Feedback in a Soft Haptic Interface via Focused Elastic Waves.  [PDF]
Proc. IEEE Haptics Symp., 2020. 🏆 🏅

T. Hachisu, G. Reardon, Y. Shao, K. Suzuki, Y. Visell,
Interpersonal Vibrotactile Feedback via Waves Transmitted through the Skin: Mechanics and Perception. [PDF]
Proc. IEEE Haptics Symp., 2020. 🏅

Y. Shao, S. Ma, S. H. Yoon, Y. Visell, J. Holbery,
SurfaceFlow: Large Area Haptic Display via Compliant Liquid Dielectric Actuators. [PDF]
Proc. IEEE Haptics Symp., 2020.

S. Biswas, Y. Visell,
Emerging Materials Technologies for Haptics. [PDF]
Advanced Materials Technologies 4 (1900042), 2019.  Top 10% accessed article.

S. Patwardhan, A. Kawazoe, D. Kerr, M. Nakatani, Y. Visell,
Dynamics and Perception in the Thermal Grill Illusion.  [PDF]
IEEE Transactions on Haptics 12 (4), 2019.

B. Dandu, I. Kuling, Y. Visell,
Proprioceptive Localization of the Fingers: Coarse, Biased, and Context-Sensitive. [PDF]
IEEE Transactions on Haptics 13 (2), 2019. 🏆

T. N. Do, H. Phan, T.-Q. Nguyen, and Y. Visell,  
Miniature Soft Electromagnetic Actuators for Robotic Applications.  [PDF+SI]
Advanced Functional Materials, 2018.  Cover article. 

M. Janko, M. Wiertlewski, Y. Visell, 
Contact geometry and mechanics predict friction forces during tactile surface exploration. 
Nature Scientific Reports, 8 (4868), 2018.

B. Li, Y. Shi, A. K. Fontecchio, Y. Visell, 
Mechanical Imaging of Soft Tissues with a Highly Compliant Tactile Sensing Array.  [PDF]  
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 65 (3), 2017.

T. N. Do, Y. Visell, 
Stretchable, Twisted Conductive Microtubules for Wearable Computing, Robotics, Electronics, and Healthcare.  [PDF]
Nature Scientific Reports 7 (1753), 2017.

Y. Shao, V. Hayward, Y. Visell, 
Spatial Patterns of Cutaneous Vibration During Whole-Hand Haptic Interactions.  [PDF+SI] 
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (15), 2016.

Awards

2025 Best Demonstration Award (Juried) 🏆 IEEE World Haptics Conference. M. Linnander, D. Goetz, Y. Visell.
2025 Best Demonstration Award (People’s Choice; Voting) 🏆 IEEE World Haptics Conference. M. Linnander, D. Goetz, Y. Visell.
2025 Best PhD Thesis Award 2024 🏆 Eurohaptics Society. G. Reardon.
2024 Best Paper Award 🏆 IEEE Haptics Symposium. N. Tummala*, G. Reardon*, S. Fani, D. Goetz, M. Bianchi, Y. Visell.
2024 Distinguished Demonstration Award (2nd Place) 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium. M. Linnander, D. Goetz, G. Reardon, Y. Visell
2023 Best Paper Award, Journal Track 🏆 IEEE World Haptics Conference. G. Reardon, D. Goetz, M. Linnander, Y. Visell
2023 Best Presentation Award 🏆 Festival of Touch Symposium. N. Tummala, H. Saal, Y. Visell.
2023 Best Presentation Award Nomination 🏅 IEEE World Haptics Conference. G. Reardon, D. Goetz, M. Linnander, Y. Visell.
2022 Best Application Paper Award Honorable Mention🏅 IEEE Transactions on Haptics. A. Kawazoe, G. Reardon, E. Woo, M. Di Luca, Y. Visell
2022 Best Journal Paper Award Honorable Mention 🏅 IEEE Transactions on Haptics. B. Dandu, Y. Shao, Y. Visell
2022 Best Paper Award Runner Up 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium. S. Dinulescu, N. Tummala, G. Reardon, et al.
2021 Best PhD Thesis Award 2020 🏆 Eurohaptics Society. Y. Shao.
2021 Best Journal Paper Award 2020 🏆 IEEE Transactions on Haptics. B. Dandu, I. Kuling, Y. Visell
2021 Encouragement Award 🏅 Workshop, Inst. Electrical Eng. of Japan. T. Hachisu, G. Reardon, Y. Shao, K. Suzuki, Y. Visell
2020 Best Paper Award 🏆 IEEE Haptics Symposium. G. Reardon, N. Kastor, Y. Shao, Y. Visell
2020 Best Presentation Honorable Mention 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium. G. Reardon, N. Kastor, Y. Shao, Y. Visell
2020 Honorable Mention for Best Paper 🏅 ACM CHI. M. Zhu et al.
2020 Best Presentation Award Honorable Mention 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium. T. Hachisu et al.
2020 Most Promising Work-in-Progress Hon. Mention 🏅IEEE Haptics Symposium. S. Dinulescu, G. Reardon, S. Topp, Y. Visell
2019 Best Demonstration Award 🏆 IEEE World Haptics Conference. B. Dandu*, Y. Shao*, Y. Visell
2019 Best Student Paper Finalist 🏅 IEEE World Haptics Conference. B. Dandu*, Y. Shao*, et al.
2019 Best Paper Award Nomination 🏅 IEEE World Haptics Conference. B. Dandu*, Y. Shao*, et al.
2018 National Science Foundation CAREER Award Y. Visell
2018 Best Student Presentation Finalist 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium S. Patwardhan, et al.
2018 Best Paper Award Nomination🏅IEEE Haptics Symposium S. Patwardhan, et al.
2018 Best Paper Award Nomination 🏅 IEEE Haptics Symposium. B. Dandu, I. Kuling, Y. Visell
2017 Hellman Faculty Fellowship Y. Visell
2016 Best Paper Award Runner Up 🏅IEEE Haptics Symposium. Y. Shao, Y. Visell
2016 Google Faculty Research Award Y. Visell
2016 Best Paper Award, Work-in-Progress Category 🏆 IEEE Haptics Symposium. M. Chartier, N. Thomas, Y. Shao, Y. Visell
2016 Best Paper Award Finalist 🏅IEEE Haptics Symposium, R. Lerch, H. Cui, S. Patwardhan, Y. Visell, C. Sims
2016 Silver Award, Best Project Runner Up 🏅AES Student Design Competition. O. Campbell, C. Roads, A. Cabréra, M. Wright, Y. Visell
2014 Honorable Mention for Best Paper 🏅 Eurohaptics Conference. M. Janko, R. Primerano, Y. Visell
2010 Best Paper Award 🏆 IEEE Haptics Symposium. Y. Visell, J. Cooperstock

The lab has been generously supported through grants from the National Science Foundation, tech, VR and healthcare industries. We enjoy collaboration and encourage interested parties to contact Prof. Visell. (If he doesn’t reply immediately try emailing him again!)

We hold lab meetings about every week.  Interested in working with us? Stop by a lab meeting or read some of our papers and contact us. Engineers, scientists, artists, and designers are all welcome. 

UCSB is an outstanding place to work, and College of Engineering is renowned for its research excellence.  UCSB faculty have received 8 Nobel Prizes. Engineering faculty members include 40+ members of the National Academies of Engineering or Invention, numerous IEEE Fellows and other awards. UCSB was ranked the #1 public university in the world for engineering research citation impact (Leiden, 2015, 2016), and ranked #9 in the world for producing Nobel laureates (Times Higher Education, 2017).  Our Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering graduate programs ranked in the top 5 in the most recent US National Research Council ratings, and our Materials and Chemical Engineering graduate programs consistently rank among the top 5 in the US (US News and NRC).

Santa Barbara is a hub for high technology and innovative startups, with one of the highest levels of venture capital investment per capita in the United States.  A very incomplete sampling of companies in and near Santa Barbara: Sonos, FLIR, SpaceX, TrackR, Cree, Biopac, Medtronic, InTouch Health (telemedicine / robotics), Productive Robotics, Raytheon, AppFolio, Moog, LogMeIn, Yardi, Zoom, Toyon, L3, Curvature, Eucalyptus (cloud computing), Inogen, bioIQ, Advanced Scientific Concepts (Lidar), Milo, NuSil, Spectron Microsystems, Channel Technologies Group / Piezo Kinetics, Crystalline Mirror Solutions, Freedom Photonics, Owl Biomedical, WorldViz (VR), D2 Technologies, SORAA (solid state lighting / lasers), Apeel Sciences, and many, many others.