Design of a bladder based elastomeric Smart Shoe for haptic terrain display

Haptic terrain display in Virtual Environments is important for increasing realism and immersion. While several terrain display devices exist, the Smart Shoe aims to render subtle terrain features while still being able to accommodate gross features, like sloped terrain. The compactness and portability of this haptic wearable device allows it to not only display terrain features on flat treadmill surface, but also potentially be able to compensate terrain unevenness to maintain level ankle posture for rehabilitation purposes. A novel elastomer based bladder system is designed to provide elasticity and support of the Smart Shoe. A mechatronic top plate is made by molding electronics and miniature solenoid valves into rubber material, providing sensing and control of pressure and height of the shoe. Evaluations of the Smart Shoe indicate promises to improve the haptic perception of different terrain features in a virtual environment.