Evaluation of Multi-Electrode Effects on Electrovibration Tactile Stimulation

Abstract

Electrovibration is one of promising methods for tactile feedback in mobile devices because of its simplicity of the structure and principle. In order to increase the capability of tactile presentation with the electrovibration, we developed an electrovibration tactile display with 1 mm electrode resolution. Voltage to each electrode is controlled separately and the tactile display can present electrovibration stimulus distribution. We designed the tactile display and optimized the voltage waveform to avoid destruction of an insulator. We fabricated the proposed tactile display with micro-fabrication process. We experimentally evaluated the relationships between stimulation condition and perception in subjects. The obtained results indicated that the multi- electrode design had a potential to enhance tactile rendering performance of electrovibration stimulation.