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

想象一下，有一层像纸一样薄、能主动振动的薄膜，可以拉伸到任何表面，也可以粘在皮肤、电子设备或纺织品上。这种薄膜将力传递给你的手指，以一种特殊的模式刺激你的神经末梢，让你知道，例如，你正在接收可穿戴设备上的通知，或者触摸关闭手机的部件或汽车仪表板。这种触觉设备的需求由来已久，但迄今为止，唯一被证实的提供触觉反馈的方法是震动整个设备，就像在移动电话中所做的那样。我们在不列颠哥伦比亚大学（UBC）的团队展示了一种薄如纸、柔软、保形、轻便、低工作电压、低功耗和低成本的振动膜，引起了业界的强烈兴趣。我们使用专利保护的制造工艺来制造这些将电流转化为运动的软聚合物装置，与用于制造聚合物致动器的其他工艺相比，它更快，更容易复制，并且材料浪费更少，成本更低。我们的技术的预期应用包括用于视频游戏、健康跟踪、诊断、医疗模拟和体育的可穿戴电子设备，整合到手机和平板电脑中，并在汽车行业中使用，以取代按钮并创建驾驶员警报。

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.