Generating Virtual Tactile Exciter for HD Haptics : A Tectonic Actuators’ Case Study

Abstract

Propagating of haptic signals to the finger(s) location from actuators embedded within a mobile device depends on the acoustic impedance of the conductive environment. Parameters of constructive interference such as time-shift and magnitude also play a crucial role in creating effective haptic feedback at the point of contact. However, Propagation of standing waves along deformable surfaces, such as Gorilla glass, quickly attenuates vibration signals, drastically reducing the efficiency of perceivable haptic signals. In order to facilitate signal propagating parameters and create HD haptics, it is necessary to use materials that effectively transfer vibration signals within a mobile device. To minimize attenuation, a display overlay pouch sealed with liquid can be used. In this paper we demonstrate the ability to generate a virtual tactile exciter as the result of the interference maximum of two Tectonic actuators affixed to the display of a Microsoft Surface Go tablet as well as to the display overlay pouch sealed with liquid. For both the liquid mediator and glass surfaces we revealed high similarity in the trend of peak-to-peak values of interference maximum indicated by Excel’s LINEST function (0.9805). We also found that the interference maximum in the pouch sealed with liquid to be 19.06dBV greater than that of the tablet. The results can be used for creating HD haptics and applications.