On a haptic phenomenon by combined use of the rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge and the tactile contact lens

Abstract

In this paper, we report a haptic phenomenon observed by combined use of two haptic devices, which are a rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge and a tactile contact lens (TCL). The rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge is a tactile sensor formed around a finger. The sensor can observe deformation of a finger wearing it by active touch. The TCL is a non-mechatronic touch enhancing device. The TCL makes tactile perception of a surface undulation enhance when the TCL is traced a surface of a tactile target and laid between human skin and the surface traced. We prepare a haptic display using a McKibben rubber pneumatic actuator which is driven according to the sensor output for a demonstration.