Scientists based out of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, have
developed a skin-like material that, when worn over a users’ body, simulates a
far more realistic sense of touch than that of current haptic feedback technologies.
Referred to as “Closed-Loop Haptic Feedback Control Using a Self-Sensing Soft
Pneumatic Actuator Skin,” the device is composed of a stretchable material only
500 nanometers thick, allowing it to form to a user’s body. Lined with a series
of pneumatic actuators, the ultra-compliant thin-metal film strain sensor
creates a highy-realistic tactile sense via vibratory feedback.
The skin uses pressure triggered
by inflated membranes to create a sense of touch far more realistic than that
of current haptic feedback solutions, which rely primarily on mechanical
vibration technology to replicate a sense of impact. This layer of membrane can
be altered to various pressures and frequencies by pumping air into it;
deflating and inflating the membrane rapidly will cause the skin to vibrate.
Sitting on top of the membrane is a sensor filled with electrodes that track
the deformation of the skin and report data back to a microcontroller, which in
turn controls the haptic sensations. The material can even be stretched up to
four times its size for up to roughly 1M cycles.
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