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  4. Untethered Feel‐Through Haptics Using 18‐µm Thick Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
 
research article

Untethered Feel‐Through Haptics Using 18‐µm Thick Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Ji, Xiaobin  
•
Liu, Xinchang  
•
Cacucciolo, Vito  
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October 7, 2020
Advanced Functional Materials

Head‐mounted displays for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow users to see highly realistic virtual worlds. The wearable haptics that enable feeling and touching these virtual objects are typically bulky, tethered, and provide only low fidelity feedback. A particularly challenging type of wearable human‐machine interface is feel‐through haptics: ultra‐thin wearables so soft as to be mechanically imperceptible when turned off, yet generating sufficient force when actuated to make virtual objects feel tangible, or to change the perceived texture of a physical object. Here, 18 µm thick soft dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA), directly applied on the skin, reports rich vibrotactile feedback generation from 1 Hz to 500 Hz. Users correctly identifies different frequency and sequence patterns with success rates from 73 to 97% for devices applied on their fingertips. An untethered version weighing only 1.3 grams allowed blindfolded users to correctly identify letters by “seeing” them through their fingers. The silicone‐based DEA membrane is mechanically transparent, enabling wearable haptics for the many applications where hand dexterity is critical. The feel‐through DEA can be placed in array format anywhere on the body.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1002/adfm.202006639
Author(s)
Ji, Xiaobin  
Liu, Xinchang  
Cacucciolo, Vito  
Civet, Yoan René Cyrille  
El Haitami, Alae
Cantin, Sophie
Perriard, Yves  
Shea, Herbert  
Date Issued

2020-10-07

Published in
Advanced Functional Materials
Volume

30

Issue

41

Start page

1

End page

10, 2006639

Subjects

dielectric elastomer actuator

•

haptics

•

human-machine interface

•

soft robot

•

wearable

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

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Available on Infoscience
October 12, 2020
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/172429
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