Simple is Vest: High-Density Tactile Vest that Realizes Tactile Transfer of Fingers

Abstract

We developed a high-density tactile vest that presents the haptic sensation of the five fingertips to the back rather than to the fingertip as a new haptic presentation method for objects in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The device adopts 144 eccentric mass vibration motors actuated individually and five Peltier elements. The voice coils present the contact points on the finger to the back and abdomen. When holding an object with fingers in VR scene, the sense of touch is presented to the wide area of the abdomen and back, so an accurate sense of which part of the finger is contacted can be comprehended. Compared with a fingertip-mounted display, it is possible to address issues of weight and size that hinder the free movement of fingers, while high-density distributed information can be presented. Furthermore, abdomen and back are totally free space in typical VR scenarios.