OCTA Display: A Pin-Actuated Triangle-Surface Fingertip Shape Display – Design & Initial Tests

We describe the design of and initial tests with the OCTA display – a new haptic interface which utilizes a novel tactile display in the form of eight dynamic triangular panels. The proposed device can render virtual height maps in 2.5D through the manipulation of these panels. Through integration with an optical sensor (similar to a standard computer peripheral mouse) to control cursor position, and the use of custom made software, for generating elevation information, the device varies the shape of the display so that virtual shapes may be explored in real-time. This paper outlines the hardware, software, and operation of the device, and describes a static and dynamic user study. These pilot studies indicate that simple static configurations of the OCTA display can be effectively recognized, with shapes using a 6 mm elevation range exhibiting a 90 % identification rate. The device also yielded a significantly higher dynamic identification rate than a single panel device.