Morphing Tactile Display for Haptic Interaction in Vehicles

This work describes the design, fabrication and characterization of a morphing (actuated) tactile display based on an array of 32 electromagnetic actuators and a capacitive touch deformable layer. A two-stage locking device allows for reliable pattern creation when the users’ finger is placed on the interface. Taxel (tactile pixel) displacements up to 1.9 mm and a holding force of 1.25 N at 9 W electrical power have been measured. This device integrated in the centre console of vehicles is designed to work in combination with a LCD display mounted in the dashboard to control secondary vehicle systems.