International recognition: a study on tactile feedback in virtual reality wins the Best Paper Award at the IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025 international conference
The study was developed within the Neuro-Robotic Touch Lab coordinated by Prof. Calogero Oddo. As part of the conference, the laboratory also co-organised the special event “NxGenBCI 2025: Next generation Brain-Computer Interfaces”
Prestigious recognition for the research activities conducted by the Neuro-Robotic Touch Lab of the BioRobotics Institute at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa: a study on tactile feedback in virtual reality won the Best Paper Award at IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025 (International Conference on Metrology for eXtended Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Neural Engineering), an international conference on metrology for extended reality, artificial intelligence and neural engineering, which took place from 22 to 24 October at the Faculty of Economics of the Polytechnic University of Marche.
The study, coordinated by Calogero Oddo, associate professor of Bioengineering, and presented by Alessandro Profiliand Flaminia Piretta, PhD students in Biorobotics, with the collaboration of PhD students Marton Csaba Mezei and Muhammad Adnan Khalil, post-doc Fabrizia Auletta and researcher Mariangela Filosa, was ranked the best among the 266 papers submitted to the conference. The work presents a tele-palpation system that allows digital twins of biological tissue phantoms to be explored in virtual reality, providing tactile sensations that convey information about the local stiffness of the virtual object thanks to neuromorphic vibro-tactile feedback. The sensory interface converts the mechanical properties of the tissue into vibratory stimuli perceived on the user's fingertip in real time, making virtual contact natural and informative.
Having tactile feedback in virtual reality is essential for recreating realistic and intuitive interaction, improving perceptual accuracy and user engagement when exploring virtual objects. This innovative technology integrates neuromorphic coding, tactile stimulation and digital twins, enabling the degree of rigidity of virtual materials to be recognised with high accuracy, paving the way for new applications in telemedicine, remote diagnosis and medical training.
The study is aligned with the scientific objectives of the PNRR A-ROGER project, funded by the Ministry of Health and aimed at providing tactile feedback in anatomical pathology diagnostics in the context of oncological surgery.
Special Event: Next generation Brain-Computer Interfaces
As part of the IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025 conference, Prof. Calogero Oddo co-organised the special event “NxGenBCI 2025: Next generation Brain-Computer Interfaces”, an activity integrated into the scientific programme of the PNRR MNESYS project, in collaboration with Pasquale Arpaia (Federico II University of Naples), Marie-Constance Corsi (Paris Brain Institute, INRIA, France), Mauro Ursino (University of Bologna) and Luigi Lavorgna (University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli and Neurodigits srl).
@ Credit main photo: Athena Consulting srl
