Investigating the Role of Haptic Feedback in Virtual Reality Learning Environments for Literacy Acquisition

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to explore how non-invasive wearable haptic feedback can support literacy learning within Virtual Reality (VR) environments. It focuses on early learners and evaluates how adding multisensory cues, specifically haptic signals delivered through specialized gloves, affects skills like phonetic recognition, spelling, and reading. The study is sponsored by the University of Miami and involves behavioral interventions without masking or blinding. Participants will be divided into two groups. One group uses haptic gloves with integrated vibration monitors and finger tracking to receive tactile feedback during VR literacy sessions lasting up to 10 minutes across a maximum of 5 sessions. The other group experiences VR using traditional hand controllers that provide vibration-based feedback alongside visual and auditory cues, also completing up to 5 sessions of 10 minutes each. Throughout the study, participants engage in literacy tasks immediately after each intervention session to measure performance. Researchers will assess how the different feedback methods influence literacy skills. The study welcomes healthy volunteers aged 6 years and older and monitors learning outcomes directly following each session, with the overall trial expected to run through December 2028.

Haptics in Virtual Reality