Haptic communication system using cutaneous actuators for simulation of continuous human touch
摘要
說(shuō)明書
The harness 1103 may further be adjustable such that its dimensions may be changed to become form fitting with the user's forearm 1101. This may be achieved with straps which connect a portion of the harness 1103 with another portion, and which may be adjustable in length or include removably attachable material, such as Velcro, on one surface of the strap, in order to attach the strap to the harness 1103 along different points of the strap. This causes the dimensions of the harness, such as its diameter, to change, and allows the harness 1103 to be form fitting to the user's forearm 1101. Alternatively, or in combination, the harness 1103 may include elastic materials, which cause the harness to compress against the user's forearm 1101, but which also allow expansion when the user initially puts the harness 1103 on his or her forearm 1101.
Attached to the harness 1103 may be a signal generator (not shown), such as signal generator 800, in order to generate actuator signals 272, which are transmitted to the cutaneous actuators 1104. In one embodiment, the signal generator generates sequences of actuator signals which are representative of phonemes of input words. In this fashion, a user, after training, is able to understand phonemes via haptic feedback rather than audio or visual transmission of the words (e.g., via speech or written words). This can be significantly advantageous for users who may have difficulties communicating using audio or visual means, and may also be useful where such audio or visual communication are unavailable, such as in a loud environment with low available light (e.g., a search and rescue operation). Additional details regarding these sequences of actuator signals are described below with reference to
