A cloth-type wearable haptic technology that fits perfectly to the body like a Spider-Man suit has been developed.
The National Research Foundation of Korea announced that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Professor Oh Il-kwon’s research team developed shape memory alloy wire.[1]Augmentative meta structure[2] Wearable haptics in the form of cloth that can be knotted and adapted to shape.[3] They said they developed an interface.
The boundaries between online and offline are becoming increasingly blurred, and the rapid development of metaverse technology is expanding our lives into virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. One of the technologies at the core of this change is ‘wearable haptic interface’ technology. You can wear a haptic suit like wearing clothes and access virtual reality, allowing you to move freely and be immersed in it. At this time, the haptic suit can exchange and control information more intuitively by responding to the user’s movements and delivering tactile information.
Existing haptic interfaces are attached to the skin or worn using a separate fastening device. The adhesive type has the risk of skin rash when used for a long time, and the fixed type has the disadvantage of not being able to move freely. The existing manufacturing method, which imitates the sense of touch by installing dozens of tactile transmission elements, also shows limitations as it leads to an increase in the weight and volume of the device.
Professor Oh Il-kwon’s research team chose shape memory alloy wire as the core material to develop a haptic interface that is light and comfortable to wear. In particular, the research team knotted shape memory alloy wires into an organic structure using the existing cloth manufacturing method, realizing the characteristic of the entire structure contracting and relaxing simultaneously in a 3D direction, which is not seen in general structures. Through these unnatural characteristics, we have introduced the world’s first cloth-type actuator that automatically adjusts its size to adapt to the curved surface of the body, like the Spider-Man suit in the movie. In addition, it was designed to allow individual contraction control in eight areas, allowing information on a total of nine directions and timing to be delivered to the user through tactile feedback. We also succeeded in demonstrating that a user wearing a cloth-type actuator on their wrist was able to determine location information around a mobility robot in virtual reality and drive the robot stably while avoiding obstacles.
A cloth-type actuator made by knotting shape memory alloy wires in an auxetic structure and a wearable haptic interface developed using it (a) A cloth-type actuator is made by knotting shape memory alloy wires in an auxetic structure. It is made and constructed like wearable cloth by connecting it to regular fabric through simple sewing. Application as a wearable haptic interface by wearing the wearable haptic interface on the wrist and elbow (b) Schematic diagram of interacting with a robot in a VR environment by wearing the wearable haptic interface on the wrist (c) Ogg A schematic diagram showing the application as a personalized exercise guide that controls elbow movement by wearing a wearable haptic interface on the elbow. Illustration and illustration provided by Professor Oh Oh-kwon of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Regarding the results of this research, Professor Oh Il-kwon said, “Wearable haptic interfaces can be used in robot and unmanned aerial vehicle control using tactile information, as well as in medical care and education incorporating the metaverse,” adding, “Users can intuitively exchange information and “We plan to continue research on control technology,” he said.
Implementing a self-fitting function that automatically adjusts the size and fits the shape of the wrist. The cloth-type actuator, made by knotting shape memory alloy wires in an augmented meta structure, can fully contract and relax in 3D directions, which allows the wearer to adjust to the shape of the wrist. A self-fitting function that conforms to the body shape has been implemented. Illustration caption and image provided by: Professor Oh Oh-kwon, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
The research results were published on September 19 in ‘Advanced Materials’, an international academic journal in the field of advanced materials, and were selected as the journal’s cover paper in recognition of the excellence of the research.
논문명 : Easy-To-Wear Auxetic SMA Knot-Architecture for Spatiotemporal and Multimodal Haptic Feedbacks
Information about the surrounding environment of a mobility robot in a VR environment is received and controlled through a wearable haptic interface. Users receive information about the robot’s surrounding environment (obstacles, walls, etc.) in a VR environment with limited visual information using a wearable haptic interface. It can be perceived intuitively through the sense of touch transmitted by the image. Illustration and illustration provided by: Professor Oh Oh-kwon of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
#Terminology
[1] Shape memory alloy wire: A shape memory alloy that is easily deformed at room temperature and has the characteristic of returning to a pre-memorized form while generating force and movement when a certain temperature is reached is manufactured as thin and long as a wire.
[2] Augtic meta-structure: Augtic structure, one of the metamaterials with unique physical properties, has a unique elasticity that is different from materials in the natural world. Unlike rubber bands, when pressed, it shrinks in the vertical direction and when pulled, it also grows in the vertical direction.
[3] Haptic: A technology that creates the feeling of touch by applying force, vibration, and motion. A typical example is smartphone touch vibration.
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