Conformable, low-voltage and paper-thin actuators for wearable applications

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Imagine a paper-thin, actively vibrating film that can be stretched across any surface or adhered to the skin, an electronic device or a textile. This film transmits forces to your finger, stimulating your nerve endings in a special pattern to let you know that you are, for example, receiving a notification on your wearable device or touching the part or your car's dashboard that turns off your phone. Such a tactile device has long been in demand, but so far the only proven method of providing tactile feedback is to vibrate an entire device, as is done in mobile phones. Our team at The University of British Columbia (UBC) has demonstrated a paper-thin, soft, conformal, lightweight, low operating voltage, low power and low cost vibrating film, which has received strong industry interest. We use a patent-protected fabrication process to build these soft polymer devices that transform electrical current into movement, which is faster, more easily reproducible, and has lower material waste and lower cost compared to other processes used to make polymer actuators. The intended applications for our technology include wearable electronics for video gaming, health tracking, diagnostics, medical simulations, and sports, incorporation into mobile phones and tablets, and use in the automobile industry to replace push buttons and create driver alerts.