I’m about to have a paper published Scientists at l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France) have made it possible to touch objects at the microscale with a technique that  is distinctly different from the haptic microscopes used for work at the nanoscale . Microscopes designed for use at the nanoscale are haptic and have been since the beginning. By contrast, a standard microscope was designed as an optical device. From the Sept. 13, 2013 news item on ScienceDaily,

In a breakthrough that may usher in a new era in the exploration of the worlds that are a million times smaller than human beings, researchers at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France have unveiled a new technique that allows microscope users to manipulate samples using a technology known as “haptic optical tweezers.”

Featured in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, which is produced by AIP [American Institute of Physics] Publishing, the new technique allows users to explore the microworld by sensing and exerting piconewton-scale forces with trapped microspheres with the haptic optical tweezers, allowing improved dexterity of micromanipulation and micro-assembly.
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This research required a mix of different experimental techniques and theoretical knowledge. Labs at the Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique possessed expertise in both microrobotics and in haptics which were needed but the research team, as the project progressed, realized that they needed additional expertise in optics and vision, which was available at the university. …

The ability to use touch as a tool to allow exploration, diagnosis and assembly of widespread types of elements from sensors, microsystems to biomedical elements, including cells, bacteria, viruses, and proteins is a real advance for laboratories. These objects are fragile, and their dimensions make them difficult to see under microscope. If this tool can restore the sense of touch under microscopic operation, it will help not only efficiency but also expand scientific creativity, said Dr. Pacoret [Cecile Pacoret, a co-author of the study], adding that she and her team are excited about the possibilities.

You can find a citation and a link for the paper at the end of the ScienceDaily news item.