Integrated Light Sensitive Gels and Hard Materials for Dynamic 3D Displays for the Visually-Impaired

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One of the primary barriers of leaving the visually-impaired still underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields is the inaccessibility to visual content images, which imminently demands a dynamically refreshable tactile display to revolutionize the means of bringing three-dimensional (3D) images to the visually-impaired. This project aims to investigate the fundamentals on the integrated environmentally responsive gels and hard materials. If successful, the knowledge obtained from this project can be applied to develop dynamic tactile displays targeting the visually-impaired. These displays can be placed over two-dimensional (2D) optical display devices (e.g., a cell phone or computer). The optical light emission is amplified by the embedded optical devices (hard materials) to trigger the light sensitive gels (soft materials) to rise (i.e., swell) or descend (i.e., deswell) to change the surface topography. The 3D dynamic tactile display will provide a transformative tool for the visually-impaired as well as in the general area of human-machine interfaces. This novel human-machine interface can also be widely utilized in many other applications, such as the automobile and consumer electronics that are becoming a promising direction pursued by both academe and industry.To achieve the goals, some key fundamentals will be thoroughly investigated, including material synthesis, processing technology, and multiphysics analysis. Combined experimental, analytical, and computational approaches will be employed to address following issues: (1) engineering the light responsive gels with broader transition range, larger swelling ratio, and faster response time; (2) developing feasible process technologies to integrate and package gels and hard materials, and (3) understanding the localized deformation of light sensitive gels upon non-uniform light intensity. The work will significantly advance knowledge in the experimental control of the synthesis and assembly of the environmentally responsive materials as well as the theoretical understanding of the coupled large deformation and mass transport in gels and their concurrent deformation with hard materials. Finally, the proof-of-concept 3D dynamic tactile display with a single module will demonstrate the applicability of the material synthesis and processing technologies.