Transtiff: Haptic Interaction with a Stick Interface with Various Stiffness

Abstract

We propose Transtiff, a stick-shaped device that can display various stiffness for stick-based haptic interaction. The device has a stiffness-changing joint replicating an artificial muscle mechanism in the relay portion of the stick to change its stiffness. Transtiff can be applied to touch interaction of the screen, augmenting the haptic experience of operating with a stylus pen, which is usually felt uniform. As applications, users can experience the sensation of pen and brush writing on a single device. In addition, it is possible to change the stiffness of the device for each object on the screen to reproduce the tactile feel of that object.