T-hive : Vibrotactile interface presenting spatial information on handle surface

Many studies have explored the use of tactile cues, however they were confined to the unilateral display device. Although lots of bilateral haptic devices have been developed to provide a guiding force on an input handle, however, a vibrotactile stimuli has not been tried to present directional information on the handle. This research introduces an attempt to combine a tactile display with an input device. A new 6DOF bilateral haptic device, which provides a spatial sensation on the handle using vibrotactile display, is proposed in this research. The sphere-shape handle is specially designed to be covered with several pieces of vibrating panels. When a specific panel is activated, the user perceives the spatial location of the vibrotactile stimulus during an input operation. This paper introduces the design of the proposed device, including the selection guide of the dimension, location, and number of vibrotactile panels. The method for combination of vibrotactile stimulus and the way to achieve fine resolution with small number of tactors are discussed. Experimental results show that the users can reliably perceive the directional information using the proposed device. An application for teleoperation of a robot proves the effectiveness and the usefulness of the proposed bilateral device.