Intelligent Patch Vibrates, Twists, And Applies Pressure To Recreate A Sense of Touch

Researchers have developed an innovative method allowing people to feel sensations transmitted directly to the skin. Besides applications in areas like gaming and telepresence, this technology has potential to assist visually impaired individuals.

In 2019, a team led by Professor John A. Rogers from Northwestern University created a prototype called “epidermal VR.” This device consisted of a thin, soft, and slightly adhesive elastomer membrane with a series of small, disc-shaped electronic actuators that were wirelessly powered and controlled.

When temporarily adhered to the skin, this 15-by-15 cm (5.9-inch) patch allowed each actuator to vibrate individually, simulating the sensation of a light touch in various patterns. Rogers and his team have now taken this concept further.

A New Prototype: Enhanced Touch with Magnetic Actuators

The new battery-powered prototype includes 19 magnetic actuators encapsulated in a flexible silicone mesh membrane. These actuators can not only vibrate, but also twist, applying horizontal tension to the skin, and move up and down, applying and releasing vertical pressure.

The actuators feature a “bistable” design, allowing them to stay in either of two positions without consuming energy. When they move down, they lock in position, maintaining pressure on the skin without using electricity. A small electric charge unlocks them, releasing the elastic energy stored in the skin and pushing them back up, where they stay without further energy consumption.

As a result, a single battery charge lasts much longer than it otherwise would.

Diverse Applications in VR and Prosthetics

The technology could be used in VR systems, allowing users to feel surfaces or be touched in virtual environments. It could also transmit touches between people in different locations or relay touch sensations from a prosthetic hand to an amputee’s residual arm, letting them feel what the prosthetic hand touches.

Rogers’ team explored another potential application: blindfolded volunteers used the patch while navigating obstacles. Though they couldn’t see the objects, a smartphone LiDAR sensor detected obstacles and transmitted alerts via Bluetooth, applying light pressure on the left or right of the patch. If the volunteer continued toward the obstacle, the pressure intensified and moved to the patch’s center.

Tactile Vision: Substituting Sight with Touch

“We demonstrated that this system can provide a basic form of ‘vision’ through tactile patterns on the skin based on data collected by a smartphone’s 3D imaging (LiDAR) function,” explains Rogers. “This type of ‘sensory substitution’ offers a primary but functional sense of one’s surroundings without relying on sight—a capability useful for people with vision impairments.”

A paper on this research, which also included scientists from China’s Westlake University and Dalian University of Technology, was recently published in the journal Nature.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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