Experiment Study for Wrist-Wearable Electro-Tactile Display

Abstract

Tactile sensation is a promising information display channel for human beings that involves supplementing or replacing degraded visual or auditory channels. In this paper, a wrist-wearable tactile rendering system based on electro-tactile stimulation is designed for information expression, where a square array with 8 × 8 spherical electrodes is used as the touch panel. To verify and improve this touch-based information display method, the optimal mode for stimulus signals was firstly investigated through comparison experiments, which show that sequential stimuli with consecutive-electrode-in-active mode have a better performance than those with single-electrode-in-active mode. Then, simple Chinese and English characters and 26 English characters’ recognition experiments were carried out and the proposed method was verified with an average recognition rate of 95% and 82%, respectively. This wrist-wearable tactile display system would be a new and promising medium for communication and could be of great value for visually impaired people.

Encoding of spatial patterns using electrotactile stimulation via a multi‐pad electrode placed on the torso

“…Haptics technology can be used in various application domains from military and space science purposes 6 to assisting sensory deprived users 7–9 . Different methods can be employed to deliver tactile information (e.g., piezoelectric, 10 pneumatic, 11 and hydraulic elements 12 ), but the most common approach is to employ vibration motors 13,14 or electrical stimulation 15,16 …”

“…[7][8][9] Different methods can be employed to deliver tactile information (e.g., piezoelectric, 10 pneumatic, 11 and hydraulic elements 12 ), but the most common approach is to employ vibration motors 13,14 or electrical stimulation. 15,16 In the latter approach, low-intensity electrical pulses are used to activate skin afferents and elicit tactile sensations. Electrotactile interfaces are power consumption efficient, fast and simple to fabricate, as there are no moving mechanical elements, and they can deliver versatile stimulation patterns through independent modulations of frequency, intensity and spatial location.…”

Improving electrotactile communication with a multi‐pad electrode under cognitive load

“…9,10 Different technologies and methods are used to elicit haptic sensations, from pneumatic and hydraulic elements, 11,12 ultrasound, mechanical pins, and piezoelectric materials, to vibration motors and electrical stimulation. [13][14][15][16] The current technology enables the manufacturing of compact, power-efficient, externally controllable electrotactile stimulators capable of delivering flexible stimulation patterns implemented through precise and independent control of the stimulation parameters (frequency, intensity, and spatial location). 17 The stimulation can be delivered through multi-pad electrodes allowing high-bandwidth tactile communication due to the many independently controlled stimulation points.…”

Electrotactile Communication via Matrix Electrode Placed on the Torso Using Fast Calibration, and Static vs. Dynamic Encoding

“…By using only a few pads, a large number of such spatial patterns can be presented enabling the encoding and transmission of a large number of tactile messages. These techniques have been used to increase the recognizability of the information presented in the form of Chinese and English characters [ 51 , 52 ], shapes [ 53 ], and military hand signs [ 49 ]. In our recent publication several methods for the dynamic presentation of the spatial patterns have been tested with promising results [ 54 ].…”