An oral tactile interface for two-way communication

An oral tactile interface capable of two-way communication is demonstrated. The interface consists of a retainer-like mouthpiece that one can use not only to send out commands and controls but also to receive messages via the tactile channel. As a key component for such a tactile interface, a flexible electrotactile display with 7/spl times/7 dome-shaped tactors has been designed and fabricated for tactile presentation to the roof of the mouth. An oral tactile interface prototype is then realized by mounting the tactor array on top of a month impression and attaching a tongue operated keypad (NewAbilities, Mountain View, CA) at the bottom. An interfacing system is implemented to control the tactor array and interact with the tongue touch keypad. The system is programmed to simulate a scenario of navigation guidance via the oral tactile interface. It is demonstrated that a user may receive simple geospatial cues by sensing tactile patterns on the oral display, and meanwhile, manipulate an image of a person on the computer screen with the tongue-operated keypad. Psychophysical experiments on geospatial cues indicate that identification on left or right moving patterns is highly accurate while errors on forward or backward moving patterns vary considerably among subjects.