Psychophysical experiment of vibrotactile pattern perception by human fingertip.

In this paper, a preliminary experimentation is carried out to investigate the necessary stimulation conditions for a pattern display that may be used for the blind to display obstacle distribution. To design an efficient vibrotactile display device of array-type and compact size, the effect of some main parameters, such as the amplitude and frequency of vibration and the spacing and quantity of vibrated pins on vibrotactile perception, should be considered. Through experiment and analysis, the minimal amplitude of vibrating stimuli and the spacing effect on the perception of vibrotactile pattern are investigated and discussed. Also an appropriate type of actuator satisfying the requirements of a compact tactile display device for the effective transfer of pattern information is discussed.