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。 这就要求无线设备可以附着在身体上或插入普通衣服中，能够感知人类输入并向佩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，与其核心市场具有潜在的重要协同作用。通过与InterDigital的合作，并基于我们在足部-地面传感和驱动方面的经验，我们将探索这一设计领域，重点关注基于足部的触觉技术，其潜在应用范围涵盖从康复治疗和运动训练到信息通信、虚拟现实和移动的游戏。1）增强我们的触觉设备架构，包括传感器和致动器的集成，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感觉，无论是以离散振动模式的形式（“触觉”）或更连续的纹理，唤起与物体或地面的交互，以及3）探索用于地面模拟的可穿戴触觉设备的使用，并且在引人注目的应用中，特别是那些需要移动性的，如游戏，运动训练和身体康复。这项研究的预期成果包括更深入地了解触觉感知中涉及的感觉和生理机制，包括与触觉错觉和多感觉融合相关的机制，使用这种理解来开发一种灵活的工具包，该工具包支持用于各种用例的触觉效果的设计，以及在移动的应用环境中验证该工具包，其中触觉信号的添加，特别是，到脚，大大提升了用户体验。

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.