PAIR Seminar: Prof. HUANG Yonggang of Northwestern University delivers 'Bioelastic state recovery for haptic sensory substitution‘

The diverse array of mechanoreceptors found in human skin provides a versatile engineering interface for transmitting information and eliciting perceptions, with the potential to serve a wide range of applications in patient care and other key industries. However, targeted multisensory engagement of these afferent units continues to present significant challenges, particularly for wearable, programmable systems that must operate adaptively across the body.

Prof. HUANG Yonggang, Jan and Marcia Achenbach Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, United States, and Chairman of International Advisory Committee of PAIR, shared the latest developments in bioelastic mechanoreceptors at the PAIR Seminar, speaking on the topic of “Bioelastic State Recovery for Haptic Sensory Substitution” on 10 September 2025. The seminar attracted over 120 in-person participants and an online audience of more than 16,700 via various social media platforms.

To begin his presentation, Prof. Huang described a miniaturised electromechanical structure which, when combined with skin as an elastic, energy-storing element, supports bistable, self-sensing modes of deformation. By targeting specific classes of mechanoreceptors as the basis for distinct, programmed sensory responses, this haptic unit is capable of delivering both dynamic and static stimuli, applied as either normal or shear forces.

Next, Prof. Huang went on to discuss a series of systematic experimental and theoretical studies that establish foundational principles and practical criteria for low-energy operation across the natural anatomical variations in the mechanical properties of human skin. A wireless, skin-conformable haptic interface, integrating an array of these bistable transducers, serves as a high-density channel capable of rendering input from smartphone-based 3D scanning and inertial sensors. Demonstrations of this system include sensory substitution designed to enhance the quality of life for patients with visual and proprioceptive impairments.

Following the presentation was a lively question-and-answer session moderated by Prof. YAO Haimin, Member of Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  The audience engaged in a productive discussion with Prof. Huang.  In appreciation of Prof. Huang’s invaluable contributions and insightful knowledge sharing, a commemorative plaque was presented to him by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR, at the conclusion.

Prof. Huang is currently a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, US National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Society (London), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 5 other academies in Europe and Canada.

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