A Fabric-Based Approach for Wearable Haptics

In recent years, wearable haptic systems (WHS) have gained increasing attention as a novel and exciting paradigm for human-robot interaction (HRI). These systems can be worn by users, carried around, and integrated in their everyday lives, thus enabling a more natural manner to deliver tactile cues. At the same time, the design of these types of devices presents new issues: the challenge is the correct identification of design guidelines, with the two-fold goal of minimizing system encumbrance and increasing the effectiveness and naturalness of stimulus delivery. Fabrics can represent a viable solution to tackle these issues. They are specifically thought "to be worn", and could be the key ingredient to develop wearable haptic interfaces conceived for a more natural HRI. In this paper, the author will review some examples of fabric-based WHS that can be applied to different body locations, and elicit different haptic perceptions for different application fields. Perspective and future developments of this approach will be discussed.