Wang Wei Dawid, Ding Zhengbing, Lee Yongkyu, Han Xu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.
Research (Wash D C). 2022 Aug 19;2022:9839815. doi: 10.34133/2022/9839815. eCollection 2022.
Haptics as a communication medium has been increasingly emphasized across various disciplines. Recent efforts have focused on developing various haptic stimulation technologies; however, most of them suffer from critical drawbacks stemming from their bulk, complexity, large power input, or high cost. Here, we describe a strategy to design portable and affordable refreshable haptic interfaces composed of an array of individually addressable and controllable liquid pouch motor-based haptic units embedded in either rigid or flexible substrates for different application contexts. The pouch motor filled with low boiling fluid, under a controlled manner, expands or contracts by Joule heating or cooling, enabling the haptic pin in contact to be protruded or retracted. Programming the actuation sequence of an array of haptic units enables the haptic interface to apply different stimuli to the skin to convey corresponding information. We finally demonstrate the applications to portable rigid braille displays and flexible epidermal VR devices. This study opens the avenue to the design of ubiquitous refreshable haptic interfaces that is portable, affordable, scalable, and uninjurious.
触觉作为一种通信媒介在各个学科中越来越受到重视。最近的努力集中在开发各种触觉刺激技术；然而，它们中的大多数都存在严重的缺点，这些缺点源于其体积、复杂性、高功率输入或高成本。在这里，我们描述了一种设计便携式且经济实惠的可刷新触觉接口的策略，该接口由一系列可单独寻址和可控的基于液体囊袋电机的触觉单元组成，这些单元嵌入刚性或柔性基板中，适用于不同的应用场景。装有低沸点流体的囊袋电机在受控方式下通过焦耳加热或冷却而膨胀或收缩，使得与之接触的触觉针能够伸出或缩回。对一系列触觉单元的驱动序列进行编程，可使触觉接口向皮肤施加不同的刺激，以传达相应的信息。我们最终展示了其在便携式刚性盲文显示器和柔性表皮虚拟现实设备中的应用。这项研究为设计无处不在的、便携式、经济实惠、可扩展且无害的可刷新触觉接口开辟了道路。
