Virtual reality: feeling gold. Scientist working with a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) (at right) linked to a telerobotic manipulation system with atomic scale force-feedback. The minute movements of the STM's probe as its traverses the gold sample surface is linked to a force-feedback magic wrist", enabling the scientist, whose hand is in contact with the "magic wrist", to feel the texture of the gold atoms. In background is a false-colour STM image of the gold surface, revealing the cobbled pattern of individual atoms. The photo was taken at IBM's Thomas Watson Research Centre, Yorktown Heights, New York."