Wearable multi-sensory haptic devices

Abstract

International audienceHaptic devices enable communication via touch, augmenting visual and auditory displays or offering alternative channels of communication when vision and hearing are unavailable. Because there are numerous types of haptic stimuli that are perceivable by users – vibration, skin stretch, pressure, and temperature, among others – devices can be designed to communicate complex information through the delivery of multiple types of haptic stimuli simultaneously. These multi-sensory haptic devices are often designed to be wearable, and have been developed for use in a wide variety of applications including communication, entertainment, and rehabilitation. Multi-sensory haptic devices present unique challenges to designers, since human perceptual acuity can vary widely, both due to the location on the body where a wearable might be located, and because of normal heterogeneity in human perceptual performance, particularly when multiple cues are presented simultaneously. Additionally, packaging the mechanisms of haptic feedback actuation in a wearable form factor presents its own engineering challenges. By understanding the state of the art and specific obstacles present in the field – challenges of cue masking, device mounting, actuator capabilities, and more – we can guide haptic research to produce multi-sensory devices that enhance the human capacity for haptic interaction and information transmission