1. A method for generating a tactile representation of an object, comprising: obtaining a microscopic image of a surface of the object; processing data corresponding to the image to generate a roughness pattern for the object based on the image; wherein the data comprises microscopic data; wherein the processing comprises: transforming the microscopic data into a metadata representation; and reducing a parameter space of possible tactile representations given the metadata representation by generating a three-dimensional (3-D) matrix from the metadata representation; calibrating the roughness pattern with a predetermined material; wherein the calibrating comprises: comparing a benchmark roughness pattern for the predetermined material with the roughness pattern for the object; and mapping differences between the benchmark roughness pattern for the predetermined material and the roughness pattern for the object to identify areas of the roughness pattern for the object which are one of smoother and rougher than the benchmark roughness pattern; simulating the roughness pattern on an electronic device; and outputting a value representing a degree of difference of at least one of a smoothness and a roughness of the object from at least one of a smoothness and a roughness, respectively, of the predetermined material, wherein the obtaining, processing, calibrating, simulating and outputting steps are performed by a computer system comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory.