Specialized vibrotactile actuators are widely used to output haptic sensations due to their portability and robustness; some models are expensive and capable, while others are economical but weaker and less expressive. To increase the accessibility of high-quality haptics, we designed a cost-effective actuation approach called the rotating motor actuator (RMA): it uses a small DC motor to generate vibrotactile cues on a rigid stylus. We conducted a psychophysical experiment where eighteen volunteers matched the RMA's vibration amplitudes with those from a high-quality reference actuator (Haptuator Mark II) at twelve frequencies from 50 Hz to 450 Hz. The average error in matching acceleration magnitudes was 10.2\%. More current was required for the RMA than the reference actuator; a stronger DC motor would require less current. Participants also watched a video of a real tool-mediated interaction with playback of recorded vibrotactile cues from each actuator. 94.4\% of the participants agreed that the RMA delivered realistic vibrations and audio cues during this replay. 83.3\% reported that the RMA vibrations were pleasant, compared to 66.7\% for the reference. A possible cause for this significant difference may be that the reference actuator (which has a mechanical resonance) distorts low-frequency vibrations more than the RMA does.
| Award: | (Honorable Mention for the Best ToH Short Paper Award at the IEEE Haptics Symposium Conference 2022) |
| Author(s): | Ravali Gourishetti and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker |
| Journal: | IEEE Transactions on Haptics |
| Volume: | 15 |
| Number (issue): | 1 |
| Pages: | 39--44 |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Month: | January |
| BibTeX Type: | Article (article) |
| DOI: | 10.1109/TOH.2021.3138867 |
| State: | Published |
| Award Paper: | Honorable Mention for the Best ToH Short Paper Award at the IEEE Haptics Symposium Conference 2022 |
| Electronic Archiving: | grant_archive |
| Note: | Presented at the IEEE Haptics Symposium |
BibTeX
@article{Gourishetti22-TH-Evaluation,
title = {Evaluation of Vibrotactile Output from a Rotating Motor Actuator},
aword_paper = {Honorable Mention for the Best ToH Short Paper Award at the IEEE Haptics Symposium Conference 2022},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Haptics},
abstract = {Specialized vibrotactile actuators are widely used to output haptic sensations due to their portability and robustness; some models are expensive and capable, while others are economical but weaker and less expressive. To increase the accessibility of high-quality haptics, we designed a cost-effective actuation approach called the rotating motor actuator (RMA): it uses a small DC motor to generate vibrotactile cues on a rigid stylus. We conducted a psychophysical experiment where eighteen volunteers matched the RMA's vibration amplitudes with those from a high-quality reference actuator (Haptuator Mark II) at twelve frequencies from 50 Hz to 450 Hz. The average error in matching acceleration magnitudes was 10.2\%. More current was required for the RMA than the reference actuator; a stronger DC motor would require less current. Participants also watched a video of a real tool-mediated interaction with playback of recorded vibrotactile cues from each actuator. 94.4\% of the participants agreed that the RMA delivered realistic vibrations and audio cues during this replay. 83.3\% reported that the RMA vibrations were pleasant, compared to 66.7\% for the reference. A possible cause for this significant difference may be that the reference actuator (which has a mechanical resonance) distorts low-frequency vibrations more than the RMA does.},
volume = {15},
number = {1},
pages = {39--44},
month = jan,
year = {2022},
note = {Presented at the IEEE Haptics Symposium},
author = {Gourishetti, Ravali and Kuchenbecker, Katherine J.},
doi = {10.1109/TOH.2021.3138867},
month_numeric = {1}
}