Pardon the nondeveloper status request.

I have heard a couple of times over the last two years about research
into using gloves with some kind of pressure-inducing device for
tactile feedback.  I presume this arises from virtual reality
interests originally.  I have some prototypical applications for such
things (contour plots and line graphs) and probably the skills and
support to do the software side. But has it been done?  Is the hardware
 available?  If so, this seems a more promising route to refreshable
graphics than screens using exotic materials since cost doesn't scale
with size.  I like the idea of making a plot a metre square.  Future
things like virtual touch screens might well be interesting but much
beyond what I could use today.
thanks in advance for any help
Peter Rayner