113 results about "Tactile display" patented technology

Conductivity of a photoconductive layer 420 changes in accordance with a display pattern made of black and white, which is displayed on a display device 200 of a touch panel apparatus with tactile display function 10. With this change of the conductivity, viscosity of an electrorheological fluid layer 430 changes in accordance with this display pattern. This change of the viscosity is presented to an operator, as tactile information corresponding to the display pattern displayed as the visual information.

Provided is an active driving type visual and tactile display device, in which a flat panel display device for visually displaying an image and a haptic part for generating a tactile sense using an electrostatic force are integrated to generate textures according to an electrostatic force based on an image signal. As a result, visual and tactile senses may be simultaneously recognized. Since the display device enables a user to simultaneously see an image through a visual sense and perceive various textures through a tactile sense, the performance of a device is significantly improved. Therefore, various textures according to an image signal can be precisely realized by the generation of an electrostatic force per unit cell.

A tactile array is integrated with a large scale force-feedback device. Under software control, the large scale force-feedback device provides large scale shape information while the tactile display provides fine structures and surface texture. In a virtual reality environment, the concept of a "tactile map" is employed. A tactile map provides surface details and is rendered by the tactile array. Tactile maps may be based on actual object surface properties, or they may be arbitrarily generated based on the application. In operation, the effect of colliding with a object is produced and the point of contact is noted. The corresponding location on the tactile map is identified, and the surface features are rendered on the tactile array. Moving the point of contact changes the corresponding portion of the tactile map being rendered.

Apparatus and methods for extended refreshable tactile graphic display are disclosed, the apparatus including an array of pins at a display surface, with pin setting actuators and display surface matrix preferably being separable units. The display matrix is provided by stacked functional layers, functions including temporary pin retention and pin locking.

A tactile display layer is provided on a back side of a flexible visual display layer of a display to facilitate selective tactile pushing against different portions of the flexible visual display layer. In one embodiment, the display further includes a sensor circuit to sense user touching of activated ones of tactile pistons of the tactile display layer. In one embodiment, the display further includes a transparent touch sensitive layer disposed on a viewing side of the flexible visual display layer, with its effective touch sensitive area limited to a perimeter area surrounding the effective area of the tactile display layer.

Conductivity of a photoconductive layer changes in accordance with a display pattern made of black and white, which is displayed on a display device of a touch panel apparatus with tactile display function. With this change of the conductivity, viscosity of an electrorheological fluid layer changes in accordance with this display pattern. This change of the viscosity is presented to an operator, as tactile information corresponding to the display pattern displayed as the visual information.

Techniques are disclosed for enhancing the quality of a displayed image using a tactile or other texture display. In particular, the disclosed techniques leverage active-texture display technology to enhance the quality of graphics by providing, for example, outlining and / or shading when presenting a given image, so as to create the effect of increased contrast and image quality and / or to reduce observable glare. These effects can be present even at high viewing angles and in environments of high light reflection. To these ends, one or more graphics processes, such as edge-detection and / or shading, may be applied to an image to be displayed. In turn, an actuator element (e.g., microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, devices) of the tactile display may be manipulated (e.g., in Z-height) to provide fine-grain adjustment of image attributes such as: pixel brightness / intensity; pixel color; edge highlighting; object outlining; effective shading; image contrast; and / or viewing angle.

An interactive apparatus is provided with a display, on which tactilely enhanced (TE) visual images may be rendered, to temporally realize a wide range of user input keys and / or user selectable menu / list items. In one embodiment, the display includes a flexible visual display layer and a tactile display layer, and the apparatus includes corresponding device drivers for controlling rendering on the respective layers. In one embodiment, the apparatus is further provided with graphics functions, which generate in response to a request to render a TE visual image, pixel and piston data of the TE visual image, in accordance with an image specification of the TE visual image, having tactile attributes of the tactile enhancements.

A system that produces a haptic effect and generates a drive signal that includes at least two haptic effect signals each having a priority level. The haptic effect is a combination of the haptic effect signals and priority levels. The haptic effect may optionally be a combination of the two haptic effect signals if the priority levels are the same, otherwise only the haptic effect signal with the highest priority is used. The frequency of haptic notifications may also be used to generate a drive signal using foreground and background haptic effect channels depending on whether the frequency ratio exceeds a foreground haptic effect threshold.

Tactile communication methods, systems and devices for wireless touch communication which include an array of electromechanical transducers each independently capable of producing a vibration for communicating qualitative and quantitative tactile cues to a user, at least one electromagnetic field sensor coupled with at least one of the array of transducers for monitoring a change in an electromagnetic field of the array of electromechanical transducers and producing an output signals when a change is detected, wherein a change in a position of a transducer contactor produces the change in the electromagnetic field and a vibrotactile waistbelt for housing the array of electromechanical transducers and sensors, wherein the vibrotactile waistbelt is worn by a user to receive and send wireless touch communication respectively from and to a remotely located controller.

An electro-tactile display comprises at least one current source, arrayed electrodes, and a switching circuit for connecting each electrode to the current source or to ground. The electro-tactile display is characterized by selecting one or a plurality of electrodes from the arrayed electrodes and connecting the selected electrodes to the current source to provide current source electrodes, alternately connecting neighboring electrodes in the vicinity of said current source electrodes to the current source and to ground, connecting a plurality of remaining electrodes other than the neighboring electrodes to ground to provide ground electrodes, and providing electrical stimulation from the current source electrodes wherein the current source electrodes are spaced apart from the ground electrodes via the neighboring electrodes. Tactile sensations are presented by switching over the current source electrodes at a predetermined time interval.

A tactile sensing transducer provides as its output a skin deformation signal for storage or transmission to a tactile stimulation display transducer. A skin surface imaging means operating optically, acoustically or otherwise is positioned for viewing and providing an output image signal corresponding to said deformed skin surface. An electronic processing means connected to said imaging means provides an output skin deformation signal corresponding to the deformation of said skin. The display transducer may incorporate a plurality of individually actuatable, bendable cantilevered arms mounted in line on a base support, each of the arms having tip ends which are displaceable, upon actuation, to provide a tactile display.

One embodiment a vision substitution system for communicating audio and tactile representations of features within visual representations includes selecting (1) activity-related parameters; obtaining (2) images or other visual representations according to the activity-related parameters; acquiring (3) features including shapes and corners related to the visual representations according to the activity-related parameters; and outputting (4) effects related to the features on audio and / or tactile displays according to the activity-related parameters. The corners of shapes and other lineal features are emphasized via special audio and tactile effects while apparently-moving effects trace out perimeters and / or shapes. Coded impulse effects communicate categorical visual information. Special speech and braille codes can communicate encoded categorical properties and the arrangements of properties.

A multimodal haptic device operating as a closed-loop system, the device including a pipeline configured to allow a closed-loop flow of a fluid medium, a manifold operatively connected to the pipeline, the manifold having a pump and a valve to control and regulate a flow of the fluid medium along the pipeline, and a display unit operatively connected to the pipeline, the display unit having a tactile display and a valve operatively connected to the tactile display for regulating an efflux of the fluid medium from the tactile display into the pipeline.

A force / tactile display that presents force / tactile sensation that occurs in response to physical interaction with each of a plurality of objects present in a virtual environment includes an action point defined on the mechanical structure, the action point presenting the force / tactile sensation, an applied force control means for controlling the force exerted on the action point, and an action point control means for controlling the position of the action point.

The present invention relates to a device, system and apparatus for a visual and tactile display and in particular, to a tactile and visual display device system capable of displaying both alphanumeric and Braille characters in a manner suitable for individuals that are visually impaired, blind or having normal range vision.

Tactile communication methods, systems and devices for wireless touch communication which include an array of electromechanical transducers each independently capable of producing a vibration for communicating qualitative and quantitative tactile cues to a user, at least one electromagnetic field sensor coupled with at least one of the array of transducers for monitoring a change in an electromagnetic field of the array of electromechanical transducers and producing an output signals when a change is detected, wherein a change in a position of a transducer contactor produces the change in the electromagnetic field and a vibrotactile waistbelt for housing the array of electromechanical transducers and sensors, wherein the vibrotactile waistbelt is worn by a user to receive and send wireless touch communication respectively from and to a remotely located controller.

The present invention relates to a foldable tactile display (1) and a method of operating it. The foldable tactile display comprises a plurality of actuators (2), one or more sensors (3-6), and a computing unit (7). The computing unit is able to control the plurality of actuators in response to the received command signals and sensor signals. In an embodiment, the tactile foldable display is used in connection with multimedia content. The foldable tactile display may be in the form of a tactile blanket.

A tactile display has a contact surface that has multiple addressable pixels. Each pixel has a vibration element that is energizable to vibrate at a selected frequency and amplitude. The vibration of selected pixels of the tactile display provides tactile feedback to a user's finger touching the contact surface.

One embodiment a vision substitution system for communicating audio and tactile representations of features within visual representations includes selecting (1) activity-related parameters; obtaining (2) images or other visual representations according to the activity-related parameters; acquiring (3) features including shapes and corners related to the visual representations according to the activity-related parameters; and outputting (4) effects related to the features on audio and / or tactile displays according to the activity-related parameters. The corners of shapes and other lineal features are emphasized via special audio and tactile effects while apparently-moving effects trace out perimeters and / or shapes. Coded impulse effects communicate categorical visual information. Special speech and braille codes can communicate encoded categorical properties and the arrangements of properties.

In a tactile display apparatus which displays image information as differences in elevation created among tactile pins which are disposed crisscross in a matrix arrangement, a fewer number of solenoids are used which make the tactile pins project and retract, the number of components is accordingly reduced and the crisscross adjacent gaps between the tactile pins are narrow. Since the solenoids 4 which make the tactile pins 10 project and retract are disposed in a row vertically, one for every preset number of the tactile pins which are lined up in the vertical direction, to a movable unit 5 which is capable of freely moving in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction along which the tactile pins are disposed, and since the movable unit repeatedly moves along the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in turn, the solenoids make all tactile pins project and retract.

A touch tactile display apparatus includes a display panel and a tactile touch portion. The tactile touch portion is configured to sense a touch by a user and provide an electro-tactile feeling to an area in which the touch is sensed. The tactile touch portion includes a first electrode, a touch processor and a tactile processor. The touch processor applies a first signal to the first electrode to extract a touch coordinate. The tactile processor applies a second signal different from the first signal to the first electrode to provide the electro-tactile feeling. The first signal and the second signal are applied at different times.

An electro-tactile display includes an electrode substrate provided with a plurality of stimulation electrodes, a conductive gel layer positioned between the stimulation electrodes and the skin of a wearer, a switching circuit section electrically connected to the stimulation electrodes, a stimulation pattern generating section electrically connected to the switching circuit, and means for alleviating a sensation experienced by the wearer as a result of the stimulation electrodes. In one aspect, the means for alleviating a sensation is configured from the conductive gel layer. The conductive gel layer has a resistance value equivalent to that of the horny layer of the skin. In another aspect, the means for alleviating a sensation is configured from the stimulation determination means and the threshold value adjustment means.

An electronic device has a touch screen, a protecting panel for protecting the touch screen by covering the touch screen, a vibration actuator coupled to the protecting panel to vibrate the protecting panel, and a control module for collecting location information of an input unit which touches the protecting panel, wherein the control module controls vibration characteristics of the vibration actuator according to a location of the input unit and forms a squeeze film between the input unit and the protecting panel to decrease a frictional force between the input unit and the protecting panel. The protecting panel has a visible area where the touch screen is exposed to be checked by the naked eyes, and an invisible area other than the visible area, and the vibration actuator is coupled to the invisible area.

A wearable tactile display device is disclosed wherein vibrating stimulation pins are located close to each other by means of underlying vibratory actuation piezoelectric bending elements arranged in a cantilever configuration partially overlapping over each other. Optionally, the plane in which the tips of stimulation pins protrude may be a curved surface providing with the ability to comply with a curved human body part such as a finger. Vibratory stimulation can be achieved at close spatial resolution by advantageously reducing the space between adjacent stimulation pins through their ability to engage with different adjacent piezoelectric cantilever bending elements when they are placed at different planes and at additional closer spatial resolution when they are placed at an angle to each other. The programmable controller employed in order to program the pattern of stimulation pin vibrations can be used for generating different amplitudes and frequencies of vibration.

The present invention relates to a foldable tactile display (1) and a method of operating it. The foldable tactile display comprises a plurality of actuators (2), one or more sensors (3-6), and a computing unit (7). The computing unit is able to control the plurality of actuators in response to the received command signals and sensor signals. In an embodiment, the tactile foldable display is used in connection with multimedia content. The foldable tactile display may be in the form of a tactile blanket.

A dynamic and refreshable three-dimensional tactile display uses stimulus sensitive hydrogel blocks as pixels to create a touch surface with elevations from a two-dimensional optical image or from stored data. The movable three-dimensional tactiles are powerful in teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) materials to visually impaired and blind students.

The present disclosure introduces new multi-functional vibrating devices, methods of using the devices, and methods of manufacturing the devices. A multi-functional vibrating device can include one or more actuators, each paired with an amplifier capable of converting small lateral vibration into large vertical vibration. The present disclosure also involves interactive information acquisition technologies and assistive technologies, particularly devices, methods, and systems for tactile information transfer and acquisition. Some embodiments incorporate multi-functional vibrational devices, methods, and systems to achieve unique structural and operational characteristics—such as high-resolution, robustness, versatility, compactness, and / or rapid refresh rates—for communicating information. Some embodiments can convert information from a format that is less convenient and / or accessible in some cases (e.g., visual or audio) to an intuitive and / or private format (e.g., tactile patterns and motions).