Comments
Alyssa Nabors
Derek Landini
Reference
Olivier Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison
TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces
User Interface Software and Technology
Summary
Bau et al. present in this paper a new method for providing tactile feedback to touch surfaces through electronic means. While most tactile feedback today relies on mechanical moving parts, TeslaTouch relies on electric currents flowing through a screen; giving the user the sensation of interacting with different surfaces ranging from paper-smooth to wall-painting rough. It is important to mention that this technology is not the same as electrocutaneous feedback or electrostatic feedback. In eleactrocutaneous feedback, the electric charge passes through the skin and stimulates the nerve endings; when using electrovibration, the feedback is produced by the intermittent attraction of the finger and the surface. This is also different from electrostatic feedback as there is no third party object uniting the skin and the tactile surface. The advantages of electrovibration stimulation vs the mechanical counterparts include: Uniform distribution across the surface, attenuation and magnitude of tactile sensation, noise reduction, reliability, and feedback localization.
Discussion
This was a very interesting paper since it moves away from the traditional approaches for tactile stimulus. I think the authors did a good job at stressing the safety concerns about this kind of technology as the sole thought of using current to stimulate the skin is a little concerning.
Yeah, 500uA will not hurt anybody, even if the insulation did break down. Of course, at 120 volts, it will certainly drain batteries.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of different feels from a piece of metal. I cannot envision what this would be used for in a productive sense, though. Maybe it would be beneficial for different responses in video games or something like that.
ReplyDelete