German testing equipment manufacturer Emtec Electronic will present its latest innovation for measuring the haptic properties of wipes and digitising the results at the World of Wipes (WoW) International Conference from July 17–20, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

The human sense of touch is notoriously unreliable and imprecise. Human fingertips are only able to give an overall subjective impression of a material’s haptic—such as its softness, smoothness, and stretch—yet cannot reliably distinguish between haptic parameters. In addition, tactile preferences vary, sometimes widely, among individuals and cultures, Emtec Electronic said in a press release.

The recently relaunched TSA Tactile Sensation Analyzer from Emtec Electronic transcends the limitations of human perception by delivering precise and objective measurements for individual haptic parameters. In addition to measuring softness, smoothness, and elasticity, for example, which are all significant factors driving consumer preference, the redesigned TSA can now also measure thermal handshakes.

Significantly, the redesign now includes a cloud-based digital haptic library, in which the exact properties of a sample can be easily stored, compared, and reproduced from anywhere in the world. The cloud-based haptic library thus improves supply chain communication, accelerates fabric development, assures product quality, and reduces courier costs required to send development samples, thereby reducing the overall environmental footprint.

Additionally, the TSA allows manufacturers to take a high-resolution image of the sample with a built-in camera, showing in detail the weave pattern and structure, measure the haptic properties, then digitally capture and categorise the sample in the online library. This makes it easier for brands to communicate product specifications, compare samples, find sample matches in the database, and monitor product quality across locations, added the release.

“The improvements to the TSA Tactile Sensation Analyzer will allow wipe manufacturers to take the haptics of their products to the next level, all the while increasing the efficiency of the process,” said Alexander Gruener, global marketing and business development manager at Emtec.

WoW 2023 conference attendees can stop by the Emtec tabletop exhibit at the event and chat with Gruener and representatives from the partnering company Technidyne of Industrial Physics to find out more about taking haptic testing to the next level.