Abstract
Our sense of touch plays a key role in our interaction with our surroundings. Traditionally, sensations of touch are created by contact with physical objects. With the development of audiovisual digital technology, new forms of haptic feedback are needed to recreate tactile sensations and enrich the communication between a user and digital content. One emerging form of haptic feedback is ultrasound mid-air haptics, which allows for the transmission of tactile information in the air, changing the way we engage with technology. By using ultrasound phased arrays, haptic devices can focus acoustic waves in space to induce tactile sensations.In this thesis, we develop a tactile robotic system which can be used to characterize mid-air haptic sensations. We show that a biomimetic tactile sensor can detect ultrasonic mid-air haptics, providing valuable data which we can use to infer properties about how the sensations affect skin. We present a methodology for measuring the low-frequency deformation induced by mid-air haptic sensations in skin-like material. We then integrate autonomous haptic exploration into the system, demonstrating the use of exploratory procedures to efficiently map haptic shapes. We then use our developed methods to study the influence of array design on focal point characteristics.
The work we present throughout the thesis shows that our method has multiple benefits for sensing mid-air haptics and opens up new possibilities for expanding the testing to better emulate human haptic perception.
| Date of Award | 9 May 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | William Frier (Supervisor) & Nathan F Lepora (Supervisor) |