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As applications for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology increase, it will be important to understand how users perceive their action capabilities in virtual environments. Feedback about actions may help to calibrate perception for action opportunities (affordances) so that action judgments in VR and AR mirror actors’ real abilities. Previous work indicates that walking through a virtual doorway while wielding an object can calibrate the perception of one’s passability through feedback from collisions. In the current study, we aimed to replicate this calibration through feedback using a different paradigm in VR while also testing whether this calibration transfers to AR. Participants held a pole at 45°and made passability judgments in AR (pretest phase). Then, they made passability judgments in VR and received feedback on those judgments by walking through a virtual doorway while holding the pole (calibration phase). Participants then returned to AR to make posttest passability judgments. Results indicate that feedback calibrated participants’ judgments in VR. Moreover, this calibration transferred to the AR environment. In other words, after experiencing feedback in VR, passability judgments in VR and in AR became closer to an actor’s actual ability, which could make training applications in these technologies more effective.
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This content will become publicly available on February 28, 2026
A sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting
Recent advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have strengthened the bridge between virtual and real worlds via human-machine interfaces. Despite extensive research into biophysical signals, gustation, a fundamental component of the five senses, has experienced limited progress. This work reports a bio-integrated gustatory interface, “e-Taste,” to address the underrepresented chemical dimension in current VR/AR technologies. This system facilitates remote perception and replication of taste sensations through the coupling of physically separated sensors and actuators with wireless communication modules. By using chemicals representing five basic tastes, systematic codesign of key functional components yields reliable performance including tunability, versatility, safety, and mechanical robustness. Field testing involving human subjects focusing on user perception confirms its proficiency in digitally simulating a range of taste intensities and combinations. Overall, this investigation pioneers a chemical dimension in AR/VR technology, paving the way for users to transcend visual and auditory virtual engagements by integrating the taste sensation into virtual environment for enhanced digital experiences.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2223387
- PAR ID:
- 10653669
- Publisher / Repository:
- AAAS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 2375-2548
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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