Naoya Asamura

Selectively stimulating skin receptors for tactile display

Research in virtual reality has recognized the need for more realistic tactile display in addition to touch and non-touch display and force display. We propose a method of selectively stimulating only superficial mechanoreceptors. We show that it makes people feel a more realistic, finer virtual texture than possible by adjusting the stimulator spacing. The apparatus is simple and we expect this idea to develop into a device to display varieties of tactile feeling.

A method of selective stimulation to epidermal skin receptors for realistic touch feedback

In this paper, we propose a device to stimulate only the superficial mechanoreceptors in the skin, and report the feeling caused by the stimulus. We describe the principle of the selective stimulation using air pressure, and we show the selectivity is more advanced than that of our previous system using magnet chips which was presented last year. We experimentally confirmed that a sparse array of the superficial stimulators could display realistic touch on objects including finer virtual textures than the stimulator spacing.

Necessary spatial resolution for realistic tactile feeling display

In this paper, we show a hypothesis on the sensing mechanism in the human tactile organ and its resolution. The hypothesis is that human skin cannot resolve any finer pattern than the resolution suggested by the two-point-discrimination test, but that variety created by four kinds of signals from four kinds of mechano-receptors makes it possible to detect fine feature of texture. This means if we control stimulus to four kinds of mechanoreceptors individually, the realistic contact-feeling display will not need higher spatial resolution than suggested by the two-point discrimination threshold. We examine this hypothesis through psychophysical experiments.

A tactile feeling display based on selective stimulation to skin receptors

People can feel various tactile feelings by touching and rubbing objects. In this paper, we propose a method to display such tactile feeling of fine texture with reality. We create the feeling by selective stimulation to each kind of mechanoreceptor using the elastic transfer property of the skin. Our system is composed of four small magnet tips attached on the hand in a line, which are controlled with precise force. The two driving modes, the common phase mode and the reversed phase mode, stimulate the deep receptors and shallow receptors in the skin, respectively. The system could give several types of tactile feeling with reality. The principle and experimental results are shown.

Two-dimensional communication technology inspired by robot skin

A two-dimensional communication device proposed in a recent paper is a device in which signals travel freely between arbitrary points in flexible two-dimensional space using two-dimensionally-spread electromagnetic field. The new form of communication solves the wiring problems in various situations. It also has advantages over wireless communication. It consumes less energy for signal transmission, it can provide energy for the connected elements, and the communication capacity is larger because multiple 1D signal chains transmit signals simultaneously. In this paper, we demonstrate examples of high-speed signal transmission through flexible 2D layers with proximity interfaces.

Tactile feeling display based on selective stimulation to skin mechanoreceptors

The human feels various tactile feeling by touching and rubbing the object lightly. In this paper, we propose a method to display such tactile feeling with reality. We produce the feeling by selective stimulation to each kind of mechanoreceptors, using elastic transfer property of the skin. Our system is composed of four magnet tips attached on the skin in a line and precisely driven by four coils. The two driving modes, the common phase mode and reversed phase mode, stimulate the deep receptors and shallow receptors in the skin, respectively. The system could give several types of tactile feeling with reality. The principle and experimental results are shown.