Investigation of Soft Display using Digital Fabrication and Phase-change Material

Softness is an essential element of haptics and is considered to have information related to elasticity and rigidity. Similar to the other haptics information, An effective soft display improves the quality and reliability of interactions with virtual or remote objects. However, a highly accurate soft display system requires complex equipment and expert skill to fabricate. We propose a new soft display, which is easy to make for the nonexpert and is capable of producing softness perception similar to that produced by a complex system. Our method utilizes a capability of 3D printer to print a display component and the phase-change material to manipulate the softness properties, making the process straightforward. In addition, we improve softness of the display by using the micro-structured surface described in our previous study. We measured the changes in hardness with respect to temperature and the deformation of the micro-structured surface to demonstrate the ability to produce the sensation of softness.