Vibration analysis for the development of resonant microbeam high-resolution vibrotactile haptic display

One type of assistive device for the blind has attempted to convert visual information into information that can be perceived through another sense, such as touch or hearing. A vibrotactile haptic display assistive device consists of an array of vibrating elements placed against the skin, allowing the blind individual to receive visual information through touch. However, these approaches have two significant technical challenges: large vibration element size and the number of microcontroller pins required for vibration control, both causing excessively low resolution of the device. Here, we propose and investigate a type of high-resolution vibrotactile haptic display which overcomes these challenges by utilizing a ‘microbeam’ as the vibrating element. These microbeams can then be actuated using only one microcontroller pin connected to a speaker or surface transducer. We propose that this approach could solve the low-resolution problem currently present in all haptic displays. In this paper, we present the results of an investigation into the manufacturability of such a device, simulation of the vibrational characteristics, and prototyping and experimental validation of the device concept.