Air Permeable Vibrotactile Actuators for Wearable Wireless Haptics. (8th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Zhaoyang; Ma, Yuan; Zhang, Kaijun; Wan, Jun; Zhao, Dazhe; Pi, Yucong; Chen, Gangjin; Zhang, Jianfeng; Tang, Wei; Lin, Liwei; Zhong, Junwen
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 33:Number 8(2023)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-12-08
• Subjects: actuators -- air permeable -- haptic feedback -- human‐machine interactions; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202211146
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

Abstract: Vibrotactile actuators can evoke mechanical stimulations on human skins to induce haptic feedbacks for various human machine interaction applications. However, efforts toward their practical usages encounter several engineering challenges, including wearable comfortability and output abilities. Here, air permeable actuators are developed and embedded in common fabrics for vibrotactile actuation, achieving excellent air permeability of 108 L m −2 s −1, low preload requirement of 10 mN, high output sensitivity of 0.2 mN/V, and good mechanical durability by surviving 11 million testing cycles. As demonstration examples, a wireless haptic feedback glove is shown to distinguish 32 different English characters and symbols with an overall accuracy of 97.8%, and large size actuators (10 × 10 cm 2 ) are also proved for providing haptic feedback for parts of human body. As such, the proposed system opens a new class of wearable vibrotactile actuators for potential applications in wide fields of metaverse, teleoperation, smart textiles, and robotics. Abstract : An air permeable vibrotactile actuator achieves excellent air permeability of 108 L m −2 s −1, low preload requirement of 10 mN, high output sensitivity of 0.2 mN V −1, and good mechanical durability by surviving 11 million testing cycles. A wearable wireless haptic feedback system is developed for transmitting haptic information to different parts of human body in real time, such as finger and chest.