VT-ware: A wearable tactile device for upper extremity motion guidance

Abstract

In this study, we developed and evaluated a tactile stimulation device for upper extremity motion guidance. The developed device stimulates skin pressing directly using “tapping.” A minimal number of actuators are used in the tactile stimulation device that is worn on the wrist. The device consists of six Tiny Ultrasonic Linear Actuator (TULA) modules, a control circuit, an upper case, and a lower case. We estimated motions through kinematic analysis of the upper extremities for motion guidance and our driving algorithm applied a tactile illusion to generate directional information cues and tapped one point using a tactile stimulation device to guide upper extremity motion. To evaluate the developed device, an experiment was conducted to test whether directional information can be successfully displayed by the device. As a result, it was found that the directional information cues could be reliably conveyed through the wrist with tactile stimulation using a “tapping” method that is based on tactile illusion, though the number of actuators that display continuous tactile stimulation is limited.