Haptic communication system using cutaneous actuators for simulation of continuous human touch
摘要
說明書
Note that the graph for sensor N is represented by a straight line, indicating co-linearity between the subjective level of force 1282 and the voltage 1284. This is unlikely to occur in practice, however, this graph also illustrates a baseline curve, which may be a reference from which a haptic device may adjust the voltage to a cutaneous actuator in order to calibrate its haptic output for a user. When an actuator signal is received by the haptic device, it may indicate a particular voltage to be applied to a cutaneous actuator. The haptic device may first find in the calibration data 1220 a sensor, which when the calibration data 1220 was generated, was at the same location on the user's body as the location of the cutaneous actuator. The haptic device also determines an objective level of haptic output (e.g., a force value measured in Newtons) for the cutaneous actuator for the voltage to be applied, and finds the equivalent voltage for the sensor when the sensor sensed the same level of haptic output. Such an equivalence between voltage and haptic output levels may be stored in the calibration data 1220. The haptic device may determine in the calibration data 1220 for the sensor if the subjective level of force at that voltage level for the sensor is above or below the baseline for that voltage level. As noted above, this baseline is represented by the graph for sensor N. If it is above the baseline, then the haptic device may lower the voltage to be applied to the cutaneous actuator such that the user would experience the subjective level of force matching the baseline value. Conversely, if it below, then the haptic device may increase the voltage to be applied to the cutaneous actuator. For example, at a voltage level of 1V for a sensor, corresponding to an objective level of force of 1N, the subjective level of force may be measured as 5 in the baseline. However, for the user in question, a voltage level of 1V corresponds to a subjective level of force of 6 at the particular location on the user's body (assuming that the equivalence of voltages between the sensor and cutaneous actuator is one to one). This means that the user feels a stronger subjective level of force than the baseline for the same objective force. Consequently, the haptic device, when applying a force to the same location on the user's body, may lower the voltage such that less than 1N is applied, but resulting in a subjective level of force experienced that is in accordance with the baseline value, i.e. 5.
