This research develops a framework for designing haptic technologies in virtual reality that balance immersion and practicality. By accounting for differences in body sensitivity, it introduces affordable, scalable devices—gloves, facial haptics, jackets, and floors—that enable full-body tactile feedback, bringing realistic touch into VR experiences.

This thesis develops a framework for pareto-efficient haptic immersion in extended reality, balancing immersion and practicality across the human sensory-motor system. Using body-region sensitivity as a guide, it presents five complementary XR haptic systems: Fluid Reality high-resolution fingertip gloves, Mouth Haptics ultrasound feedback for lips and mouth, Synthetic Jets scalable midair facial haptics, Kinethreads a soft full-body force-feedback exosuit, and LocoLocomotion a low-cost omnidirectional VR treadmill. Together, these systems show that full-body, expressive XR haptics can be made more affordable, wearable, scalable, and consumer-feasible, while opening paths toward modular, multi-user, and language-model-driven haptic design.