A Novel Method to Generate Amplitude-Frequency Modulated Vibrotactile Stimulation

Abstract

The natural interaction of humans with their environment involves the harmonious coordination of the body, for which multi-modal feedback including vision, proprioception, and tactile perception is essential. Most human-machine interfaces, however, rely on the visual feedback only, and this can lead to considerable cognitive burden. Additional haptic feedback can increase the intuitiveness of the man-machine interaction. Therefore, we propose here a new device able to generate complex vibrotactile stimulation by simultaneously modulating the amplitude and frequency of vibration. Physical measurements were first performed in eight healthy subjects to assess the capability of the device to generate vibrations. The results indicated that the vibration frequency and amplitude can be independently modulated and that the device response to the full-range step-change in the amplitude/frequency commands is almost instantaneous and symmetric. In addition, psychophysical assessments were conducted in four healthy subjects using a standard psychophysical procedure (SIAM). The outcomes indicated that the proposed device can produce approximately 400 vixels (discriminable stimuli), which allow for the generation of a high diversity of vibrotactile patterns. The proposed method allows producing different kinds of stimulation patterns using motor types that are suited for specific applications, with adjustable trade-off between vibration intensity, size, and power consumption.