Atmospheric Haptics: Rendering Airflow and Temperature as Tactile Fields for Interactive Experiences in Virtual Reality

Existing haptic interfaces remain predominantly contact-centric, relying on localized mechanical actuation to convey discrete events while neglecting continuous atmospheric stimuli—airflow and thermal cues—that fundamentally shape human environmental perception. This paper introduces Atmospheric Haptics, a paradigm treating air and temperature as programmable, non-contact haptic fields authored through four perceptual primitives: Intensity, Temperature, Spatiality, and Dynamics. We develop a three-layer rendering architecture that decouples perceptual authoring from hardware actuation via intensity linearization and thermo-aerodynamic coupling compensation. To validate this paradigm, we present AtmosTouch, a handheld prototype integrating high-static-pressure centrifugal airflow with liquid-cooled thermal management for sustained bidirectional thermal rendering. Our user study (N=14) demonstrates that atmospheric haptics significantly improved navigation precision (lower RMSE), enhanced environmental realism, and enabled novel sensory illusions including wetness perception without liquid contact. Participants unanimously preferred atmospheric haptics over vibrotactile haptics, highlighting its potential as a foundational component for next-generation embodied virtual experiences.