Flexible Visuo-haptic Display

Abstract

This paper describes a flexible visuo-haptic display module. We have developed a flexible electro-active polymer (EAP) actuator and a thin flexible visual display with $3{\times}3$ array configuration via polymer technology. The flexible actuator consists of nine EAP cells vertically moving in response to change in their thickness. The flexible display uses polymer based optical waveguide allowing light to scatter only at specific area. The display film is transparent and identically designed to the array pattern to fit for the arrangement of actuator cells. A pressure sensor is installed under the integrated module. The performance of the actuator is proved to be sufficient for satisfying perceivable range of human touch sense. The integrated system can provide interactive haptic feedback such as key pressing, contact vibration sensations, and etc. in accordance with user input.