Development of a Wearable Haptic Device that Presents the Haptic Sensation Corresponding to Three Fingers on the Forearm

Numerous methods have been proposed for presenting tactile sensations from objects in virtual environments. In particular, wearable tactile displays for the fingers, such as fingertip-type and glove-type displays, have been intensely studied. However, the weight and size of these devices typically hinder the free movement of the fingers, especially in a multi-finger scenario. To cope with this issue, we have proposed a method of presenting the haptic sensation of the fingertip to the forearm, including the direction of force. In this study, we extended the method to three fingertips (thumb, index finger and middle finger) and three locations on the forearm using a five-bar linkage mechanism. We tested whether all of the tactile information presented by the device could be discriminated, and confirmed that the discrimination ability was about 90%. Then we conducted an experiment to present the grasping force in a virtual environment, confirming that the realism of the experience was improved by our device, compared with the conditions with no haptic or with vibration cues.