Tactual Displays for Wearable Computing

This paper provides a general overview of tactual displays (i.e., devices that communicate to a user through the sense of touch) and issues concerning the development of such displays for wearable computing. A wearable tactile directional display is presented. It takes advantage of a sensory phenomenon called "sensory saltation" and simulates directional lines and simple geometric patterns dynamically. Initial results indicate that this information is intuitive and easy to interpret even for first-time users, and interpretations are highly consistent among observers. Several applications of this tactile directional display for wearable computing are proposed. Keywords: Tactual displays, wearable tactual displays, wearable computing. 1. Introduction A major challenge in building practical wearable computer systems is the development of displays. Much effort has been devoted to visual displays that are lightweight and high-resolution (e.g., the PrivateEye^TM). Such efforts are warranted ..