MIT glove with tactile sensors builds map that could help train robot manipulation

Wearing a sensor-packed glove while handling a variety of objects, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have compiled a massive dataset that enables an AI system to recognize objects through touch alone. The information could be used to help robots identify and manipulate objects, as well as in prosthetics design. The MIT researchers developed a low-cost knitted glove, called "scalable tactile glove" (STAG), equipped with about 550 tiny sensors across nearly the entire hand. Each sensor captures pressure signals as humans interact with objects in various ways. A neural network processes the signals to "learn" a dataset of pressure-signal patterns related to specific objects.