5 TACTILE AND HAPTIC DISPLAYS

The sense of touch is engaged whenever we want to communicate using the skin. The signal may be as simple as an alert from a vibrating cell phone that indicates an incoming call or the shaking we experience when we drive across the rumble strips on the edge of a highway. In this chapter we examine the various types of tactile and haptic displays that have been developed, focusing on the technology used, the applications, and the challenges of developing wearable haptic systems. From the development of braille for the visually impaired in the early nineteenth century to the more recent advent of robotic systems that use haptic feedback to communicate remotely with their human controllers, success has depended on designing systems that are intuitive to use, do not encumber the user, and provide benefit that is not available visually or auditorily.