Wearable Haptic Pneumatic Device for Creating the Illusion of Lateral Motion on the Arm

This paper presents the design of a novel haptic wearable device capable of creating the illusion of a continuous lateral motion on the forearm to mimic a stroking gesture commonly used in social touch. The device is composed of a fabric sleeve with a linear array of thermoplastic pneumatic actuators. The actuators are sequentially inflated and deflated, carefully controlling the amount of inflation of each actuator using an electronic pressure regulator. The travelling wave of pressure up the arm creates the illusion of lateral motion, even though no physical lateral motion occurs. We evaluate the device in a human-subject study to determine the optimal actuation parameters that create the most continuous and pleasant sensation. The results of the study indicate that short inflation times create a more continuous and pleasant sensation, but the pressure change during inflation does not affect continuity and pleasantness.