Haptic wearables

我们的高级目标是探索可穿戴触觉设计作为日常条件下的交互范例。这就需要可以连接到身体上或插入普通衣服的无线设备，能够感知人类的输入，并向穿戴者提供丰富的表达输出。对于InterDigital来说，触觉技术代表了一个新的领域，与其核心市场有着潜在的重要协同作用。在与InterDigital的合作中，基于我们在地面传感和驱动方面的经验，我们将探索这一设计领域，重点关注基于脚的触觉，其潜在应用范围从康复治疗、运动训练到信息交流、虚拟现实和移动游戏。本建议书所支持的研究计划包括三个平行的调查轨道：1)增强我们的触觉设备架构，包括传感器和执行器的集成；2)模式感知研究，包括信号生成设计策略，根据需要产生佩戴这些设备的用户所体验的触觉，无论是以离散振动模式（“tactons”）的形式，还是更连续的纹理，唤起与物体或地面的互动；3)探索使用可穿戴触觉设备进行地面模拟，并在引人注目的应用中，特别是那些需要移动性的应用，如游戏，运动训练和身体康复。本研究的预期结果包括更深入地了解触觉感知的感官和生理机制，包括与触觉错觉和多感官融合相关的机制，利用这一理解开发一个灵活的工具包，支持各种用例的触觉效果设计，并在移动应用程序环境中验证该工具包，其中添加触觉信号，特别是脚，显著增强用户体验。

Our high-level objective is to explore the design of wearable haptics as an interaction paradigm in everyday conditions. This requires wireless devices that can be attached to the body or inserted into regular clothing, capable of sensing human input and delivering richly expressive output to the wearer. For InterDigital, haptics represents a new area, with potentially important synergy with its core market. In collaboration with InterDigital, and building on our experience with foot-ground sensing and actuation, we will explore this design space with a focus on foot-based haptics, for which potential applications span the gamut from rehabilitation therapy and sports training to information communication, virtual reality, and mobile gaming.The research program to be supported by this proposal involves three parallel tracks of investigation: 1) augmentation of our haptics device architecture, including integration of sensors and actuators, 2) pattern perception research, including signal generation design strategies, as needed to produce the haptic sensations experienced by users wearing these devices, whether in the form of discrete patterns of vibration ("tactons") or more continuous textures evocative of interaction with objects or ground surfaces, and 3) exploration of the use of wearable haptic devices for ground surface simulation, and in compelling applications, in particular those requiring mobility, such as gaming, sports training, and physical rehabilitation.The anticipated outcomes of this research include a deeper understanding of the sensory and physiological mechanisms involved in haptic perception, including those related to haptic illusions and multisensory fusion, use of this understanding to develop a flexible toolkit that supports the design of haptic effects for a variety of use cases, and the validation of this toolkit in a mobile application context in which the addition of haptic signals, in particular, to the feet, significantly enhances the user experience.