Wearable Soft Pneumatic Ring with Multi-Mode Controlling for Rich Haptic Effects
A light-weight, finger-worn ring actuator based on a soft pneumatic bladder that renders both static pressure and high-frequency vibrotactile feedback up to 250 Hz through fast valve control, demonstrated in VR/AR applications.
Researchers: Aishwari Talhan, Hwangil Kim, and Seokhee Jeon
In this work, we present a light-weight, multi-mode, and finger-wearing haptic device based on pneumatic actuation of a soft bladder. The prototype is a ring-shaped bladder made of soft silicone connected to valves and a small compressed air source, consisting of two layers: an inner (active) layer of stretchable silicone and an outer (passive) layer of non-stretchable silicone. When air pressure blows inside the cavity, the stretchable material inflates inward and pushes the user's skin, while the non-stretchable material keeps the actuator's size and shape unchanged. We also present variable rendering modes: the device provides not only static pressure to the skin but also generates high-frequency vibrotactile feedback up to 250 Hz through fast valve control. We experimentally formulated the relation between valve opening and the frequency/amplitude characteristics of the feedback to ensure accurate rendering.
