Low Latency Haptic Feedback for Battery Powered HCI for the Tactile Internet

The Tactile Internet, which is considered by many to be the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT), will enable real time Human Computer Interaction (HCI) systems capable of delivering tactile experiences remotely from the machine to the operator. Tactile Internet application fields include the tactile robot teleoperation, which constitutes the next generation of collaborative robots, equipped with sensing capabilities to process humanlike tactile sensation in Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) applications, i.e. advanced AR/VR training or education environments, Automotive and other application domains where Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) are required [1]. Tactile Enabled battery powered HCI devices must satisfy ultra-low latency haptic media constraints which are an order of magnitude more sensitive to delays when compared to audio and visual media [2] as well as low power consumption constrains required by battery powered portable or wearable technology. This paper describes the design considerations for power efficient low latency tactile feedback technology and the modelling and characterization of the system level latency associated with a tactile piezoelectric actuator driver. Such a driver architecture is envisaged to be used to implement haptic feedback in HMI scenarios, with a focus on reducing the latency of, battery powered, piezoelectric based tactile enabled HCI devices.