Measurement of plantar pressure and development of prototype for haptic device on sole of foot with magnetic field sensitive elastomer

A magnetic field sensitive elastomer (MSE) is a compound of magnetic particles and non-magnetic elastomers. This is a functional material whose elasticity can be adjusted with an external magnetic field. The final goal of this study is to develop a virtual walking system using a haptic device on soles of feet with the MSE. First, we measured the difference of planter pressures when subjects (3 young healthy students) stepped on two different types of floor (dot-type braille block and flat floor). The differences of the normalized pressures were about 2~4, and these values are one of the development goal of the device. Next, we designed an electromagnet and evaluate the difference of plantar pressure with/without magnetic field on the MSE. According to the results, the difference of the normalized pressure depended on the weight of subjects. The difference of the normalized pressure was 2.3 for a light subject. However, there were not clear differences for heavier subjects. We should consider the basic elasticity of the MSE to develop a practical device.