In one embodiment, this “two point” haptic output represents a vowel phoneme of an input word 1106. Thus, if a vowel phoneme is encountered in an input word, the corresponding sequence of actuator signals 1111 which is outputted causes two different cutaneous actuators to generate two different haptic outputs separated by a temporal delay that may be similar to the one shown here in FIG. 11D.
FIG. 11E illustrates an example of haptic outputs of different durations, according to an embodiment. In addition to the single and two point haptic outputs shown in FIG. 11C and FIG. 11D, respectively, where the duration shown for the haptic outputs is the same, in other embodiments the haptic output generated by a cutaneous actuator 1104 from a actuator signal 1111 can be of different durations. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11E, one of the haptic outputs with attack 1125 and decay 1127 has a longer duration 1126 (e.g., 400 ms) where the intensity of the haptic output is at a maximum level (i.e., after the attack 1125 and before the decay 1127), and the other haptic output with attack 1128 and decay 1130 has a relatively shorter duration 1129 (e.g., 150 ms) where the haptic output is at the maximum level. Like the single and two point haptic outputs, the haptic outputs illustrated in FIG. 11E with different durations may be used to represent different phonemes of the input words 1106. For example, while a two point haptic output may represent a short vowel phoneme, while a two point haptic output with each haptic output having longer duration may be used to represent a long vowel phoneme.
