Trend & prospects of haptic technology in mobile devices

Through researches defining tactile feeling on touched surfaces, researchers have begun to examine how to design effective tactile actuators and displays. In this paper, we present the state-of-the-art in tactile actuators and modules for mobile device applications. This paper focuses on tactile actuators such as solenoid actuators, piezo-actuators, electroactive polymers, ultrasonic actuators and MR fluids. The characteristics of actuators are presented and compared. Various tactile modules using the actuators are examined. In addition, the ultimate goal of haptics is discussed.