Electro-vibrotactile display

摘要

A system for generating a haptic effect with an electrostatic device, alone or in combination with actuators or other devices configured to generate a haptic effect. The system may generate the haptic effect to simulate a coefficient of friction or texture on the surface of a user interface, such as a display screen or touchpad. The simulated coefficient of friction may be adjusted to convey other properties on the user interface surface. The system may also include sensors that measure the simulated coefficient of friction and the impedance at the surface.

主权项

1. An interface device for providing an overall haptic effect, the interface device comprising:
a surface configured to detect a contact by a user or object interacting with the interface device and transmit a signal associated with the contact; a sensor configured to detect an impedance of a body part contacting the surface and transmit a sensor signal associated with the impedance of the body part; an electrostatic device coupled to the surface and configured to create a first haptic effect at the surface using a first type of stimulus by generating an electrostatic force between an electrode layer of the electrostatic device and the user or object; an actuator separate from the electrostatic device and configured to create a second haptic effect at the surface using a second type of stimulus that is different from the first type of stimulus; and a processor in communication with the surface, the sensor, the electrostatic device, and the actuator, the processor configured to:
receive the sensor signal from the sensor;determine a characteristic of the first haptic effect or the second haptic effect based at least in part on the sensor signal;transmit a first haptic signal to the electrostatic device configured to cause the electrostatic device to create the first haptic effect; andtransmit a second haptic signal to the actuator configured to cause the actuator to create the second haptic effect simultaneously to the first haptic effect,wherein the overall haptic effect comprises the first haptic effect generated using the first type of stimulus and the second haptic effect generated using the second type of stimulus in order to provide feedback to the user or object interacting with the interface device.