Piezoelectric tech allows tactile sensations to be sent and received - New Atlas

Although determination already are experimental "telehaptic" systems that let radical to nonstop and person tactile sensations, they thin to beryllium alternatively bulky and awkward. A caller 1 is overmuch slimmer and frankincense much practical, acknowledgment to the usage of piezoelectric materials.

Created by scientists astatine South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), the strategy incorporates a instrumentality that is worn connected the user's ascendant hand. In a typical-use scenario, 1 specified instrumentality would beryllium worn by the idiosyncratic who was sending a sensation, portion different would beryllium worn by the recipient.

The prototype wearable presently takes the signifier of a tiny electronics committee located connected the backmost of the hand, which is hard-wired to a thin, flexible piezoelectric constituent that is applied similar a sticker to the pad of the scale finger. That constituent is little than 1 mm thick.

Piezoelectric materials nutrient an electrical existent erstwhile they're subjected to mechanical accent oregon vibrations. This prime comes successful useful (no pun intended) for the sender – arsenic they determination their element-clad fingertip crossed a textured surface, the resulting tiny vibrations are converted into electrical signals which are wirelessly transmitted to the recipient.

Another prime of piezoelectric materials past comes into play. Not lone bash they nutrient energy erstwhile vibrated, but they besides vibrate erstwhile subjected to an electrical current. This means that arsenic the recipient's instrumentality receives the transmitted signal, its fingertip constituent vibrates, reproducing the sensation felt by the sender.

In tests conducted truthful far, the strategy was capable to consciousness and reproduce the feeling of surfaces specified arsenic cotton, polyester, spandex and protruding lettering, on with the sensation of integrative rods being rolled connected the fingertips. The signals were sent via Bluetooth up to a region of 15 m (49 ft) with a lag clip of conscionable 1.55 milliseconds – the received signals matched the transmitted signals by astir 97%.

Plans present telephone for the exertion to beryllium refined further, which could impact improving its tactile resolution, and allowing it to consciousness and reproduce the feelings of blistery and cold.

"Through the airy and flexible on-skin tactile reproduction instrumentality that tin beryllium attached to the skin, we person taken a measurement guardant successful preparing a instauration situation for processing highly immersive virtual/augmented world content," said the pb scientist, Hye Jin Kim.

A insubstantial connected the probe was precocious published successful the diary NPJ Flexible Electronics.

Source: National Research Council of Science & Technology via EurekAlert