Description

During a conversation in 1993 with student Thomas Massie, MIT principal research scientist Kenneth Salisbury wondered aloud, "What if I could take my fingers off this keyboard and reach into the computer to touch what I see on the screen?" With these words, Salisbury inspired Massie's senior project to develop a computer interface that would allow people to experience the digital world using their sense of touch. The PHANTOM haptic interface was born. By exerting forces against the fingertip using computer-controlled motors in its arm, PHANTOM creates the illusion of touching and manipulating real objects. Development of the PHANTOM spawned SensAble Technologies, a company Massie has dedicated to 3D Touch technology. The PHANTOM continues to underlie exciting new applications being developed at SensAble, MIT, and other institutions around the globe.