Simultaneous Presentation of Thermal and Mechanical Stimulation Using High-Intensity Airborne Ultrasound

TL;DR

This paper introduces a non-contact method using airborne ultrasound to simultaneously deliver thermal and mechanical stimuli to human skin, demonstrating a perceivable temperature increase in preliminary tests.

Contribution

It presents a novel airborne ultrasound technique for simultaneous thermal and mechanical stimulation without contact, enabling new possibilities in sensory presentation.

Findings

Temperature increase of 5.4°C after 5 seconds on the palm

Successful generation of perceivable thermal stimuli via ultrasound

Demonstrated simultaneous presentation of mechanical and thermal stimuli

Abstract

In this study, we propose a non-contact thermal presentation method using airborne ultrasound. We generate strong sound field directly on the human skin and present a perceivable temperature rise. The proposed method enables simultaneous presentation of mechanical and thermal stimuli. In preliminary experiments, we confirmed that temperature increase of 5.4 ${}^\circ$C occurs at the palm after 5.0 s.