Vibrotactile control systems and methods
Methods and systems are disclosed to facilitate creating the sensation of vibrotactile movement on the body of a user. Vibratory motors are used to generate a haptic language for music or other stimuli that is integrated into wearable technology. The disclosed system in certain embodiments enables the creation of a family of devices that allow people such as those with hearing impairments to experience sounds such as music or other input to the system. For example, a “sound vest” or other wearable array transforms musical input to haptic signals so that users can experience their favorite music in a unique way, and can also recognize auditory or other cues in the user's real or virtual reality environment and convey this information to the user using haptic signals.
1. A system for driving haptic output comprising:
a wearable array of vibratory motors configured to vibrate against a user's body at a plurality of different regions; and
a signal processor configured to receive an audio input and generate a plurality of electrical driving signals in real time according to a predefined mapping from the input,
wherein the plurality of electrical driving signals generated by the signal processor are configured to drive the vibratory motors according to a predefined mapping of audio signals comprising portions of the input to the plurality of different regions.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vibratory motors are coupled to one or more wearable articles.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the vibratory motors is coupled to a wearable vest.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the vibratory motors is configured to be placed against a user's wrist.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a first of the vibratory motors is coupled to a first strap configured to be worn about a user's wrist, and wherein a second of the vibratory motors is configured to be worn about the user's opposite wrist.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the array of vibratory motors comprises at least 4 vibratory motors.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vibratory motors are wirelessly coupled to the signal processor.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio input comprises real-time audio detected via one or more microphones.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio input comprises pre-recorded audio signals.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to generate the electrical driving signals such that at least two of the vibratory motors vibrate at different frequencies from one another.
11. A method of driving haptic output comprising:
providing a wearable array of vibratory motors configured to vibrate against a user's body at a plurality of different regions; and
receiving, at a signal processor, one or more input signals;
generating, via the signal processor, a plurality of electrical driving signals in real time according to a predefined mapping from the one or more input signals,
wherein the plurality of electrical driving signals generated by the signal processor are configured to drive the vibratory motors according to a predefined mapping of the input signals comprising portions of the input to the plurality of different regions.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the vibratory motors are coupled to one or more wearable articles.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the vibratory motors is coupled to a wearable vest.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the vibratory motors is configured to be placed against a user's wrist.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein a first of the vibratory motors is disposed over a user's wrist, and wherein a second of the vibratory motors is disposed over the user's opposite wrist.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the array of vibratory motors comprises at least 4 vibratory motors.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the vibratory motors are wirelessly coupled to the signal processor.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more input signals comprises real-time audio detected via one or more microphones.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more input signals comprises pre-recorded audio signals.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor is configured to generate the electrical driving signals such that at least two of the vibratory motors vibrate at different frequencies from one another.