Une exploration conceptuelle et pratique de l’électro-vibration sur des vêtements et des objets intelligents

Abstract

Electrovibration is a technology aiming to improve haptic interfaces with realistic tactile feedback. It has been frequently used to provide a varied range of tactile sensations to fingers moving across a touch screen. However, it does not appear to be used in wearable devices. Similarly, its use is limited in everyday objects that provide tactile feedback to other parts of the body. This research work investigates electrovibration in wearable devices and smart objects. Initially, our interest was focused on wearable devices and electrovibrating garments for stimulating various body parts. This includes the fabrication of electrovibrating surfaces from flexible conductive materials, textiles, and cut capacitive plates, coupled with interesting ideas for applications collected during brainstorming sessions. Our preliminary results reveal that the perception of the electrovibratory stimulus varies according to the different parts of the body. Indeed, the tactile sensations generated were significantly strong on the palm and the fingertips, and slightly weaker on the wrist. On the thighs, neck, and forearm, the sensationswere subtle. Althoughwearable devices and electrovibrating garments enrich the user experience and provide new ways of interacting with information, on the other hand, our experiments show considerable challenges in terms of the design and perception of electrovibratory stimulation, which may interfere with other tactile sensations. Secondly, we oriented our interest towards the design of an everyday object, in particular an electrovibratory palm-stimulating keyboard, which according to our preliminary results, allows the perception of rich tactile sensations. To informthe design of this keyboard, we have carried out a study focused on the comparison of the perception of the electrovibratory stimulus of two regions of the hand. This study is conducted through a psychophysical experiment, which compares the absolute thresholds of detection of the palm and the fingertip. The results reveal that the perception of electrovibratory stimuli on these two regions of the hand does not differ. The palm is thus a suitable area for electro-vibrational stimulation, as are the fingertips. Stimulation of this area of the hand extends the range of application of electrovibration and the objects in which it is applied.

Date	30 Jul 2021
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Vincent Lévesque (Supervisor)