The future of wearable innovation is here: Navigating with a simple ‘tap’ on the wrist
A pressurised air device that taps a user's wrist and silently guides them to their destination has been developed by scientists at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The device is made of fabric.
Highlights
- The wearable device incorporates an air-based control system
- Versatile applications serve a wide variety of users like amputees using prosthetic limbs
- The textile-based platform is highly adaptable
Rice University researchers at the University of Houston, Texas, have created a wearable device that ‘taps’ a user's wrist with compressed air, providing silent assistance to the user as they navigate to their intended destination.
According to the study, published in August, users were able to correctly interpret the direction the device indicated to them on average 87 percent of the time, as demonstrated by the device's control system.
This system is embedded within the fabric and relies on air for control rather than electronics. As a result, the wearable can be constructed in a more compact and lightweight form than existing designs.
Smart wearables: Enhancing privacy and accessibility
This device could be used by people who need or want to get information to them in a private way, and it can be easily put on their clothes or other devices, said Marcia O'Malley, the chair of the Mechanical Engineering department at Rice University and one of the authors of the study. It could also be useful for amputees, people with hearing impairments, and people who are surgeons, pilots, or soldiers who have to deal with a lot of visual and auditory information.
Information overload
Information can be transmitted through visual and auditory cues, like a light on your dashboard or the sound of a text message. But it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the notifications we get in our day-to-day lives, and if we get too many of them, it can be hard to keep track of everything.
That's where haptics or touch-based stimuli, come in. These devices use touch-based cues, like hot or cold feelings or pressure applied to your skin. But they're not as common as they used to be, since they usually come with a lot of heavy hardware.
To overcome this challenge, the Rice researchers designed a lightweight, comfortable wearable made from textile materials that could be worn on the arm.
The researchers tested the device by comparing forces applied to the wearer as a function of force and the design of the wearable.
It was a bit of a challenge because different users had different levels of experience with cues from the device
Textile-based platform adapts to diverse body types & preferences
Each person has a different arm shape, a different idea of what feels good in terms of how much force is applied and how quickly it's applied, and different abilities when it comes to responding to the kind of cues we give them. Jumet said, "Fortunately, our textured platform is easy to customize and can fit a variety of body shapes and sizes."
After trying out their haptic sleeves on people in a lab setting, the researchers wanted to see if they could use them to help people navigate in real life. They put two sleeves on a shirt and added a textile belt to the shirt to make it portable. An experimenter then gave the user a cue and told them where to go for a mile of walking.
It was remarkable that the user was able to traverse the streets of Houston and traverse the 50-meter-long Tetris pieces in a free-standing field with 100 percent precision, according to Daniel Preston, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and corresponding author of the study.
Conclusion
Fabrics like these could be the next big thing in the future. Its revolutionary design, with control systems inside the fabric and air instead of electronics, promises to be lighter and more compact than existing models. It could be great for amputees, hearing loss patients, and people who are overwhelmed by information. Plus, it can be tailored to different body types and preferences, making it even more accessible and customisable.
