Mouse Embedded Soft Vibration Actuator for Exploring Surface Textures

TL;DR

This paper presents a tactile display embedded in a mouse that enables users to explore virtual surface textures through vibrations, achieving a spatial resolution of 0.16 mm in texture identification.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel embedded tactile display in a mouse that provides high-resolution vibrations for surface texture exploration.

Findings

Subjects identified textures with 0.16 mm width

The embedded tactile display effectively conveys fine surface details

The system enhances virtual surface exploration capabilities

Abstract

We aimed to develop a tactile display that allows users to actively explore the virtual texture of a surface. We developed a tactile display embedded in an optical mouse that provides a wide range of frequency vibrations to the user's fingertip in response to its movement. We conducted an experiment to confirm the degree of fineness based on a stripe pattern identification task using a trial system. The results showed that the subject could identify a fine spatial resolution up to 0.16 mm width.