This portable device uses air to provide directions
This portable device uses air to provide directions
Arduino Team — August 30, 2023
Today, most people rely on technology to navigate the world. This is convenient thanks to the reliability of modern GPS. But receiving instructions can be difficult for people with certain disabilities. Blind people, for example, cannot view a map on a smartphone. People who have lost a limb may not even be able to hold a smartphone. To help these people, engineers at Rice University have developed a lightweight, portable device that uses pressurized air to provide directions.
Instead of displaying a graphical map, this device tells the user when to turn. This is done through pneumatic haptic feedback. Electronic components attach to wearable textiles, so they don't get in the way. Pneumatic hoses run from the device to nozzles pointed at the user's skin. The locations of these nozzles can be tailored to the preferences and physiology of the user. When the device needs to alert the user, such as when approaching a bend, it opens a valve to the appropriate hose to blow air across their skin.
Rice engineers designed a prototype to test this concept consisting of two haptic textile sleeves embedded in a shirt as well as a circuit board mounted on a belt, which uses an Arduino Nano board for control. The Arduino opens the solenoid valves via MOSFETs and receives commands from an external device, such as a computer, via a four-channel 433 MHz receiver. The air comes from CO2 cartridges compressed through a pressure regulator.
In testing, subjects were able to correctly interpret pneumatic haptic feedback 87% of the time.
Arduino Team — August 30, 2023
Today, most people rely on technology to navigate the world. This is convenient thanks to the reliability of modern GPS. But receiving instructions can be difficult for people with certain disabilities. Blind people, for example, cannot view a map on a smartphone. People who have lost a limb may not even be able to hold a smartphone. To help these people, engineers at Rice University have developed a lightweight, portable device that uses pressurized air to provide directions.
Instead of displaying a graphical map, this device tells the user when to turn. This is done through pneumatic haptic feedback. Electronic components attach to wearable textiles, so they don't get in the way. Pneumatic hoses run from the device to nozzles pointed at the user's skin. The locations of these nozzles can be tailored to the preferences and physiology of the user. When the device needs to alert the user, such as when approaching a bend, it opens a valve to the appropriate hose to blow air across their skin.
Rice engineers designed a prototype to test this concept consisting of two haptic textile sleeves embedded in a shirt as well as a circuit board mounted on a belt, which uses an Arduino Nano board for control. The Arduino opens the solenoid valves via MOSFETs and receives commands from an external device, such as a computer, via a four-channel 433 MHz receiver. The air comes from CO2 cartridges compressed through a pressure regulator.
In testing, subjects were able to correctly interpret pneumatic haptic feedback 87% of the time.
What's Your Reaction?
