Creating Better Wearable Tactile Displays

Jun-21-13 A new testing array able to measure the skin’s sensitivity to vibrations brings researchers a step closer to developing more precise, wearable tactile displays.

The array was developed by Lynette Jones, a senior research scientist at MIT. The system, which consists of eight miniature accelerometers and one pancake motor, tracks a motor’s vibration through the skin in three dimensions. Using the array, Jones was able to determine where the motor’s vibrations through skin drop off (within 8 mm of origin) as well as how far the participants’ perception of the vibrations extended (as far away as 24 mm).

Jones’s team has been using the data to design arrays to be worn across the back and around the wrist, and is investigating different ways to present the vibrations.

More Info about this Invention:

[DISCOVERY.COM]
[MIT]

---