What They Say
A group at Saarland University is using thin silicon films to give haptic feedback to touch displays. The 50 micron film can change shape to simulate a button or key on a surface. The film could also be incorporated into gloves to allow a system to know how hands and fingers are moving.
‘The operator could, for example, control a process through the movement of their hand. When working on complex industrial plant equipment, the system could help to avoid potentially costly mistakes by sending a tactile signal, such as a tap, a pulse or a vibration, to the operator’s hand or fingers,’
‘A highly flexible electrically conducting layer is printed onto each side of the ultrathin silicone film to create what is known as a ‘dielectric elastomer’. When we apply a voltage to the elastomer, the two electrodes attract each other, compressing the polymer and causing it to expand out sideways, increasing its surface area, which in turn alters the electrical capacitance of the film
When the operator bends a finger while wearing the glove, the film stretches like a second skin and this distortion causes a change in capacitance. The researchers are able to precisely assign a capacitance value to each position of the film as it distorts. So a specific capacitance value essentially represents a specific position of the operator’s finger, and a sequence of capacitance values represents the path taken by the finger as it moves.
The team want to develop this and other smart material systems for commercial and industrial applications, which is why the spin-off company ‘mateligent GmbH’ was founded.
What We Think
This looks like an interesting concept for applications where critical data is needed on the user’s hand movements. Hand tracking from headsets still has some challenges from occlusion etc. (BR)
