Visual information is relayed through the tactile display as a series of vibrations that are sequentially activated to provide a stream of emotional information as a conversation meanders. As the subject’s face turns from happiness to concerned to interested, the user is fed different signals that allow him or her to infer the changing emotional status through tactile sensation delivered by a forearm sleeve.
Of course, a user must first learn how to interpret the tactile information, but using one’s own face as a guide, that’s not so difficult. A visually impaired person sits in front of the setup with his or her own face as the subject. By going through a range of emotional gestures, the person can quickly teach his or her brain to associate certain gestures and faces with the vibrations he or she feels.
The research has thus far focused mainly on how best to convey those facial tics and non-verbal cues into data the computer vision could read and translate into tactile data, but with the hard part out of the way, the research group is looking at further commercial applications for the tech, some that are aimed at seeing people as well.
How cool would it be if you could tell that a text from your significant other was either angry or sweet simply by the way your phone vibrates in your pocket? Or keep up with a baseball game during dinner simply through the vibrations of your mobile device? You don’t have to answer that question — a gesture into your Web cam will do. — Clay Dillow
Popular Science has been a leading source of science, technology and gadget news since 1872. With up-to-the minute latest space news, insightful commentary on the new innovations and concept cars ...if it's new or future technology you'll find it at popsci.com.au.
WW Media - Popular Science © 2010
Technology - DIY - Videos