Claims
- 1. An apparatus for providing a tactile sensation to a sensing body part in relation to a virtual state signal, said apparatus comprising at least one vibrotactile unit, wherein each unit comprises:
a mass-moving actuator comprising a shaft and an eccentric mass mounted on said shaft, said mass-moving actuator rotating said shaft; fastening means for holding said mass-moving actuator in relation to said sensing body part for transmitting vibrations to said sensing body part; and wherein said apparatus further comprises a signal processor for interpreting said virtual state signal to produce an activating signal and transmitting said activating signal to said mass-moving actuator for activating said mass-moving actuator.
- 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means comprises a casing containing said vibrotactile unit.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said activating signal provides varying levels of activating said mass-moving actuator for varying the rotation of said shaft.
- 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mass-moving actuator is an electric motor and said apparatus comprises electrical connection means connecting said electric motor to said signal processor.
- 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means comprises means for fastening to a portion of a hand.
- 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said portion of a hand is the dorsal side of a finger.
- 7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said portion of a hand is the metacarpus.
- 8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said eccentric mass is pie-shaped.
- 9. An apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of vibrotactile units.
- 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said signal processor produces multiple activating signals for individually activating each vibrotactile unit of said plurality of vibrotactile units to produce a complex tactile sensation.
- 11. An apparatus for providing a tactile sensation to a sensing body part in relation to a state of a measured body part, said apparatus comprising at least one vibrotactile unit, wherein each unit comprises:
a mass-moving actuator comprising a shaft and an eccentric mass mounted on said shaft, said mass-moving actuator rotating said shaft; and fastening means for holding said mass-moving actuator in relation to said sensing body part for transmitting vibrations to said sensing body part; and wherein said apparatus further comprises:
a state sensor for measuring the state of said measured body part and generating a state signal; and a signal processor for receiving said state signal to produce an activating signal and transmitting said activating signal to said mass-moving actuator for activating said mass-moving actuator.
- 12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said fastening means comprises a casing containing said vibrotactile unit.
- 13. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said activating signal provides varying levels of activating said mass-moving actuator for varying the rotation of said shaft.
- 14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said mass-moving actuator is a variable speed electric motor.
- 15. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said fastening means comprises means for fastening to a portion of a hand.
- 16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said portion of a hand is the dorsal side of a finger.
- 17. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said portion of a hand is the metacarpus.
- 18. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said eccentric mass is pie-shaped.
- 19. An apparatus according to claim 11, comprising a plurality of vibrotactile units, wherein said signal processor produces multiple activating signals for individually activating each vibrotactile unit of said plurality of vibrotactile units to produce a complex tactile sensation.
- 20. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said apparatus has a plurality of state sensors, each state sensor for measuring the state of a different said measured body part.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/838,052 filed Apr. 18, 2001 which issued as U.S. Patent No. _______; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/561,782, filed May 1, 2000 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,213; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/066,608, filed Apr. 24, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,017, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/565,102, filed Nov. 30, 1995, abandoned.
Continuations (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09838052 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
Child |
10186342 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09561782 |
May 2000 |
US |
Child |
09838052 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
Parent |
09066608 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Child |
09561782 |
May 2000 |
US |
Parent |
08565102 |
Nov 1995 |
US |
Child |
09066608 |
Apr 1998 |
US |