Design and Development of a Novel Haptic Skin Strain System

Team: Robert Pettys-Baker - Research Assistant; Brad Holschuh - Faculty Advisor

Program: Wearable Technology Lab

How can we produce haptic skin strain on the body in larger areas without the use of adhesion?

The displacement of our skin is so common that it is an innocuous part of our daily lives. The skin can passively strain to accommodate the body movements and can actively encode the caring massage of a loved one. In this way skin strain is, perhaps, the most common form of touch sensation we experience in our everyday lives. Despite this ubiquity in our lives, there has been limited success in creating skin strain artificially through the use of wearable technology, making skin strain an understudied mode of haptic interaction relative to other haptic modalities (e.g. vibration or compression). Therefore, this project focuses on the development of a novel, wearable artificial skin strain system that will allow us to expand our understanding of this promising haptic technology,  which could lead to new and interesting forms of haptic interaction technologies.

For this project, there are four areas of examination: (1) how to better produce artificial skin strain on the body for ease of use and production; (2) how the technical elements interface with the body; (3) how perception of skin strain changes between body areas and orientations; and (4) how artificial skin strain interacts with unique features of the skin.

Funders: Human Factors & Ergonomics Microgrants