A fingertip shear tactile display for communicating direction cues

Fingertip skin stretch has been found by our lab to be a reliable means for communicating direction. This demonstration will consist of two different parts to illustrate this means of communication. The first part of the demonstration will give participants some perspective on the importance of properly selecting stimulus parameters when rendering skin stretch. It will utilize a precision bench-top shear display. This device is a precision Parker X-Y stage that is used to impose fingertip skin stretch shear stimuli with displacements of 0.05-1.00 mm at rates of 0.5-4 mm/s. The second part of the demonstration will utilize a portable fingertip shear display to provide navigation cues to guide participants through the conference center.