Scientists have developed a fabric-based wearable device that 'taps' a user's wrist with pressurized air, silently helping them navigate to their destination. The study demonstrated that users correctly interpreted which direction the device was telling them to go an average of 87% of the time. Since the wearable embeds most of its control system within the fabric itself, using air instead of electronics, it can be built lighter and more compact than existing designs.
Scientists at Rice University in Houston, Texas have developed a fabric-based wearable device that"taps" a user's wrist with pressurized air, silently helping them navigate to their destination. The study, published August 29 in the journal, demonstrated that users correctly interpreted which direction the device was telling them to go an average of 87% of the time.
The wearables may benefit amputees who use prosthetic limbs, people with hearing loss, and specialists such as surgeons, pilots, and soldiers who are inundated with visual and auditory information. But while devices that produce visual cues or sounds are prevalent in everyday life, devices that use haptic cues are still uncommon since they usually require bulky hardware that weighs down the wearer.
"Every person has a differently shaped arm, a different perception of what"feels good" in terms of the forces applied and the timing of the forces, and different capabilities in responding to the type of haptic cues we delivered," said Jumet."Fortunately, our textile-based platform is easily tailorable and adjustable to a range of body types and sizes."
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