Haptic system and method

Abstract

To provide a wearable haptic feedback system and method for outputting a haptic signal processed using a bone conduction head related transfer function "bHRTF".SOLUTION: In an entertainment system including an audio processor, a haptic feedback method comprises the steps of: providing a wearable haptic feedback device comprising one or more bone conduction haptic feedback units; and driving the one or more bone conduction haptic feedback units with a first signal processed using a bone conduction head related transfer function "bHRTF".SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to haptic systems and methods. [Background technology]

[0002] Existing haptic systems are typically concerned with providing either hand-held or full-body haptic experiences. However, there is scope for haptic interfaces that provide alternative and / or additional sensory input (whether pre-recorded or interactive) to enrich the experience or facilitate understanding of information related to the experience, and that can assist individuals with sensory or attention needs. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The present invention seeks to address or alleviate this need. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] Various aspects and features of the present invention are defined in the appended claims and detailed description.

[0005] In a first aspect, a haptic feedback method according to claim 1 is provided.

[0006] In another aspect, there is provided a haptic feedback system as claimed in claim 13. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and many of the attendant advantages will be readily obtained by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an entertainment system including an audio processor according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2]2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing inter-ear timing and level differences. [Diagram 3] 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating elevation angle dependent frequency sensitivity. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an impulse response in the time and frequency domain. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a head-related transfer function. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a measurement scheme according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of a wearable haptic feedback device according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart of a haptic feedback method according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] A haptic system and method are disclosed below. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not necessary to practice the present invention. Conversely, specific details known to those skilled in the art are omitted, where appropriate, for the sake of clarity.

[0009] In referring to the drawings, like reference numbers are used to designate the same or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

[0010] In an embodiment herein, a wearable tactile feedback device is provided that outputs tactile signals processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function (bHRTF).

[0011] Notably, this is distinct from using bone conduction headphones, which play audio that has been processed using the acoustic (air-borne) HRTF.

[0012] With reference to Figures 2 and 3, it can be seen that traditional HRTFs detect inter-aural timing differences in audio caused by differences in path length from the audio source to each ear (Figure 2A), inter-aural differences in level caused by occlusions in the user's head and diffraction / interference effects (Figure 2B), as well as changes in frequency response caused by the interaction of the incoming audio waves with the various frequency-dependent amplification characteristics of the outer ear (Figures 3A and 3B).

[0013] In contrast, bone-conducted bHRTFs have completely different characteristics: the attenuation around (and through) the user's head is different for haptic signals directly coupled to the user's head, and the timing (particularly between the ears, and more generally between two points on the user's head) is different due to the different propagation speed of sound within the user's head as opposed to through air.

[0014] However, similar to airborne audio HRTFs that generate spatially localized sound sensations (often referred to as 3D audio), bone-conducted haptic bHRTFs can generate spatially localized touch or vibration (e.g., 3D haptic effects). In this case, there is a separation between the physical touch or vibration caused by the touch receptors on the skin of the user's head and the virtual touch or vibration generated by the processed signal. However, users may become accustomed to the physical sensations while using the virtual sensations for immersion and information.

[0015] Audio HRTFs can be obtained by placing microphones in the ear canals of a user or a dummy head and using the resulting signal together with the source audio signals and the positions of the remote sources to calculate a transfer function. Typically, this is achieved by determining the in-ear impulse or frequency response of the user at multiple source audio signal positions, e.g., a sphere around the user.

[0016] With reference to FIG. 4, for each sampled position sound (e.g., a single delta or click-like impulse), an impulse response is obtained that is recorded in the ear (e.g., using a microphone placed at the entrance to the ear canal) as shown in the top graph. The Fourier transform of such an impulse response is called the frequency response and is shown in the bottom graph of FIG. 4. Collectively, these impulse or frequency responses can be used to define an HRTF, which represents the effect of the user's head (head shape, facial features, outer ear shape, etc.) on the received frequency spectrum at a particular position in space as heard at each ear.

[0017] By measuring at many positions, the complete HRTF can be calculated, some of which are shown in Figure 5 for both the left and right ear (frequency on the y-axis, orientation on the x-axis). The brightness is a function of the Fourier transform value, and the dark areas correspond to the notches in the spectrum.

[0018] An HRTF typically consists of a time or frequency filter (e.g. based on impulse or frequency response) for a set of locations (e.g. both azimuth and elevation) on a sphere or partial sphere surrounding the user's head. Playing a sound through each one of these filters will make the sound seem to come from the corresponding location / direction. The more measurement locations the filter is based on, the better the HRTF will be. For locations between measurement locations, interpolation between the filters can be used. Again, the closer the measurement locations are to each other, the better (and less) the interpolation will be.

[0019] This process is known in the art and will not be described further here.

[0020] In particular, a dummy head can be used in place of the user since structural characteristics of the user's head other than its external shape are irrelevant for the calculation of the HRTFs.

[0021] However, in the case of the proposed bone conduction bHRTF, the structural properties of the user's head (or the human head in general) are relevant, since the behavior of the waves from the haptic sound source as they propagate around and through the head depends on the properties of the skin, skull and brain.

[0022] In particular, the propagation delay between the left and right ears (or more precisely, between the measurement points) is expected to be shorter than in air. Meanwhile, the propagation delay directly through the head is likely to differ depending on location and direction due to a combination of different propagation speeds through the brain and different path lengths. Similarly, the inter-ear (or more precisely, between the measurement points) levels are different for the propagation paths in the skull and the propagation paths in the brain, unlike in air. These differences allow for directional perception in much the same way as the differences in path lengths and the differences in directional perception levels by the ears. Also, differences in frequency-dependent attenuation between different propagation paths may contribute to directional perception, similar to how air-based directional perception allows for different frequency responses due to the structure of the pineal gland.

[0023] Thus, referring now to FIG. 6, in one embodiment herein, one or more tactile vibration sensors (which may be, for example, microphones having an appropriate frequency response that encompasses the desired tactile vibration range) are positioned in physical contact with the user's head at locations corresponding to the subsequent locations of the haptic drivers used to generate the 3D haptic effects.

[0024] A preferred (but not required) location for both the sensor and subsequent driver is in front of the auditory ossicles (denoted as position A), typically in the area 0-2 cm towards the face. Another preferred (but not required) location for both the sensor and subsequent driver is on the upper jaw directly behind the lobule / earlobe (denoted as position B). Either of these or neither may be used with the subsequent driver system (e.g. when using a headband or cap rather than headphones or hearing aid style). It will be understood that measurements will typically be taken at corresponding measurement locations on both sides of the head.

[0025] Next, excitation signals are applied to different locations on the user's head. Non-limiting examples of locations are shown as circles in FIG. 6. More generally, an approximately equidistant distribution of sample points is used over any area of ​​the user's head and face. In particular, the user's bony structures (e.g. skull, optionally including eyebrows, cheeks, and / or upper jaw), lower jaw, and / or neck can be traced. These signals can be applied to any suitable frequency range (in particular the frequency range expected to be used by the subsequent wearable haptic feedback device). Furthermore, these signals may be only haptic signals and / or may also include bone-conducted audio signals. This frequency range will be explained later in this specification.

[0026] The signal obtained from the sensor can then be used in conjunction with the source excitation signal and the location of the excitation on the user's head to calculate the bone conduction BHRTF in a manner similar to the air conduction HRTF described previously in this specification.

[0027] A haptic driver can then be used at the measurement location (e.g., A and / or B, and / or other locations on the user's head) or at each measurement location to provide a signal that is processed using bone conduction bHRTFs to provide a signal that corresponds to the signal that would be received at that time if excited by a haptic excitation at that location or locations on the user's head. The user can then determine the source direction or location of the perceived haptic stimulus.

[0028] In this way, hearing-impaired users may receive haptic directional cues similar to 3D audio directional cues, while other users may benefit from a directional haptic experience either for immersion or because they have another sensory information channel (e.g., if their visual or auditory perception is overwhelmed or unavailable).

[0029] The wearable and bone conduction tactile feedback units may, for example, be comprised of one or more drivers for providing low frequency and / or high frequency outputs.

[0030] The low frequency driver may provide haptics generally in the low frequency range (e.g., without limitation, in the range of 1-10 Hz to 5-20 Hz) and / or generally in the sub-bass range (e.g., in the range of 15-50 Hz to 50-250 Hz). Such a driver may be provided primarily to generate haptic input.

[0031] High frequency drivers, on the other hand, can provide haptics generally in the audible frequency range (e.g., but not limited to, in the range of 50-250 Hz to 2000-8000 Hz). Such drivers are provided primarily for generating directional bone-conducted sound (e.g., dialogue).

[0032] Thus, optionally, the wearable haptic feedback unit may include both a low frequency driver and a high frequency driver.Typically, a wearable haptic feedback device, such as a haptic headset, comprises a wearable haptic feedback unit on either side of the head.

[0033] As disclosed herein, such wearable haptic feedback devices can provide alternative and / or additional sensory input (whether pre-recorded or interactive) that may enrich an experience or assist a person with sensory or attention needs in assimilating information relevant to the experience. In particular, providing directional / spatial haptic inputs can provide situational awareness of events or character interactions without the need to display them graphically (or, if displayed graphically, without the need to assume that the user is (or can be) attentive to them at the relevant time). Similarly, directional / spatial haptic inputs can enhance the immersion of a virtual environment. Meanwhile, separate from (or in concert with) haptic feedback, directional / spatial bone conduction audio can likewise provide awareness and immersion, especially for users with outer-ear or middle-ear hearing impairments or who wish to retain awareness of their real-world environment by not blocking their ears with headphones.

[0034] (Modification) A user may not be familiar with haptic input to the head or directional bone-conducted audio, so the user may optionally be trained to understand the subjective haptic sensations and bone-conducted audio that they are experiencing.

[0035] For example, a user wearing a bone conduction headset is provided with haptics and / or audio that are processed using bone conduction bHRTFs so that sounds appear to come from a specific location, and is also provided with a graphical representation of that location. In a virtual reality headset, for example, the user can look around to identify a location. As the user moves their head to maintain the relative position of the location, the processed haptics and / or audio change. The user then has a visual sense of the location of the sound source and a kinesthetic understanding of how the sound source moves above their head as they change head position.

[0036] Using this approach, users can learn to effectively localize using haptics and / or audio, and once they have gained confidence in their localization, the approach can be entertaining by allowing users to effectively point out locations without actually looking and score their accuracy.

[0037] Such accuracy scores may also be used to determine the type of directional information to be given. For example, a user with low accuracy may be given a simple left or right type haptic to guide them to turn their head towards the relevant information, whereas a user with high accuracy may be given a haptic indicating a degree of left or right, and / or a degree of front or back, and / or a degree of up or down to provide more precise directional cues to the senses and / or sounds. The exact relationship between accuracy or other user feedback and the type of directionality selected may be left to the discretion of the designer.

[0038] For users who are hearing impaired due to outer or middle ear problems but whose cochlear implants function normally and respond to traditional audio frequency ranges, or for users who are hearing-impaired, bone conduction audio can be provided in the traditional frequency range, and optionally higher frequencies may be boosted to allow for a higher rate of attenuation at these frequencies.

[0039] However, for hearing impaired users whose cochleae do not respond to traditional audio frequency ranges, and in particular attenuate in traditional audio frequency ranges (e.g., in the range 500 Hz to 8 kHz, typically with a stepwise attenuation from higher to lower frequencies), pre-recorded or otherwise generated audio (particularly dialogue) may be mapped to lower frequencies that the user can still hear. Such a mapping may be achieved, for example, using a wavelet transform. This mapping may be performed when the audio is generated, for example as a precursor to HRTF processing, or it may be pre-processed and provided as a parallel audio data set. If the mapping is performed as part of the current processing, it may optionally be responsive to a hearing test performed using a haptic driver, for example as part of a calibration process.

[0040] Similarly, as mentioned above, the wearable bone conduction haptic feedback unit 56 may be comprised of multiple drivers, typically one low frequency driver and one high frequency driver. Alternatively, the low frequency driver may receive a separate haptic signal and the high frequency driver may receive a separate audio signal, which may relate to entirely separate content and in-game events. However, alternatively or additionally, they may receive signals that complement each other, for example to provide a broad spectrum of impulses, music, etc. The separate haptic signals may be derived from specific haptic feedback data and / or from low frequency components of the audio data.

[0041] As disclosed herein, typically, wearable haptic feedback units, each consisting of one or more haptic drivers, are worn near the ears (e.g., positions A and B in FIG. 6) as headwear in one of several forms, such as part of a glasses-type wearable device, or part of over-the-head headphones 54 (in FIG. 7A, the position of the wearable haptic feedback units 56 is indicated by a hatched circle), behind-the-head headphones, or part of over-the-ear earphones. However, this is not required.

[0042] Thus, alternatively or additionally, one, two or more wearable bone conduction haptic feedback units may be provided on headwear in the form of a circumferential headband, which may be a separate item or may be part of a virtual reality or augmented reality headset 802 (in FIG. 7B the location of the wearable haptic feedback unit 56 is indicated by a hatched circle, in which case position A also includes a unit). The wearable haptic feedback units may be uniformly distributed around the headband or may be located at predefined positions and / or may be limited by where the headband or other operational components of the headset allow.

[0043] Similarly, alternatively or additionally, one, two or more wearable haptic feedback units may be provided on headwear in the form of a cap, hat, or other over-the-head structure, which again may be a separate item or may be part of a virtual reality / augmented reality headset. The wearable haptic feedback units may be uniformly distributed on the structure, placed in predefined locations, and / or limited by where the structure or other operating components of the headset will allow.

[0044] Notably, haptic headbands or caps can achieve some improved directionality due to the physical spatial positioning of their wearable haptic feedback units, but in this case, bone-conducted bHRTFs (or potentially multiple bHRTFs for different wearable haptic feedback units) provide enhanced directionality beyond the location of the units themselves.

[0045] Other methods may be used to acoustically couple one or more wearable haptic feedback units to the user's skull. For example, a mouth guard or bite plate type device may be employed, which the user may place between the teeth. The haptic feedback units may transmit signals through the user's upper and / or lower jaw. Such devices may consist of control elements such as tongue-operable buttons or grip sensors. The user may generate input to the entertainment device 10 via such control elements.

[0046] In this case, the bone-conducted bHRTFs are based on data from sensors placed in a similar mouthguard or bite plate type device.

[0047] While a generic HRTF provides good spatial audio, the airborne audio HRTF can improve on this by using a personalized HRTF, or an HRTF tailored for someone with a head morphology similar to the current user.

[0048] The same principle applies to bone-conducted bHRTFs, but this may be less important for low-frequency, low-frequency sound, and vibration-only tactile signals, where directionality may not be as clear-cut in nature due to the relativity of signal wavelengths.

[0049] However, especially for directional bone conducted audio, it may be desirable to update or replace the generic bHRTF model to better match the user's own head morphology.

[0050] In this case, it would likely be impractical to directly test each individual user with sensors and sound sources in the manner disclosed herein, and as a result, in embodiments herein, a user may provide measurements of their head obtained by any suitable means (e.g., using front and side photographs captured by a camera associated with either the entertainment device 10 or HMD 53 associated with the user's account, and / or captured by a phone associated with the user's account).

[0051] Such photographs can be compared, for example by a central server, to a reference template of a typical user's head (such as the typical head template shown in FIG. 6) to identify differences relative to these. The server can then identify the reference individual with the closest corresponding set of differences for which bone conduction HRTFs were performed, and obtain the corresponding bone conduction bHRTFs for use by the current user.

[0052] Alternatively or additionally, such photographs can be compared directly to photographs of reference individuals to find the closest morphological matches, although in this case additional sources of error or variation may arise due to features contained in the photographs, such as hair (facial or otherwise) that are visible in both photographs.

[0053] A library of such reference individual bHRTFs can be generated by performing the tests described herein on a representative population of reference individuals covering a range of ages, genders, ethnicities, etc.

[0054] This library can be expanded over time, allowing us to periodically re-compare user measurements to identify if a better morphological match, and therefore a better bone conduction bHRTF, has been added than the current one.

[0055] The technique is described herein with reference to a wearable haptic feedback device (such as a headset, head-mounted display, headband, or cap) and transfer functions associated with the head, but in principle the approach can be used for any other part of the body, e.g., the legs, arms, and / or torso.

[0056] Thus, for example, a sleeve or jacket can provide a distribution of wearable haptic feedback units to the limbs or body in the same way that headwear, such as a hat worn on the head, provides a distribution of wearable haptic feedback units to the head. By using limb- or body-related transfer functions generated in a manner similar to the bone conduction bHRTFs disclosed herein, such a sleeve or jacket can also provide a fine spatial resolution of haptic feedback to the user (albeit with fewer wearable haptic feedback units than would be required if the garment were to provide direct tactile stimulation at the same density location). This can reduce both the cost and weight of the haptic feedback garment.

[0057] Thus, more generally, a haptic feedback garment (whether headphones, a headband, a hat, a sleeve for the limbs or body, or, for example, a wetsuit or one-piece type, or a combination of two or more of these) may be constructed by appropriately distributing wearable haptic feedback units. Such a garment may also be understood to be a wearable haptic feedback device.

[0058] Although a hierarchy of configurations has been described (a wearable tactile feedback device including one or more wearable bone conduction tactile feedback units, which in turn include one or more acoustic / tactile feedback drivers), embodiments herein are not so limited. For example, a self-adhesive wireless tactile feedback driver may be considered equivalent to a wearable bone conduction tactile feedback unit or a wearable tactile feedback device in that they similarly output a first signal to a user that has been processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function. The wearable bone conduction tactile unit and the wearable tactile feedback device provide the user with a non-limiting means for bundling or distributing the drivers.

[0059] Referring now to FIG. 8, in a summary embodiment herein, a haptic feedback method comprises the following steps.

[0060] That is, the method includes a first step s810 of providing a wearable tactile feedback device including one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units, and a second step s820 of driving the one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units with a first signal that has been processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function "bHRTF" as described herein.

[0061] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, variations of the above methods corresponding to the operation of the various embodiments of the apparatus disclosed and claimed herein are also within the scope of the present invention, including, but not limited to, the following: - one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units comprise one or more of the tactile vibration drivers or audio frequency drivers disclosed herein. Optionally in this case, a bone conduction tactile feedback unit consisting of a tactile vibration driver receives as a first signal a tactile signal for said driver, related to the tactile feedback disclosed in this specification. -Also optionally in this case, the bone conduction tactile feedback unit including an audio frequency driver receives as a first signal an audio signal for that driver, related to bone conduction audio as disclosed herein. - The first signal is processed using bHRTFs derived using measurement signals acquired at the mounting position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit or at the position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit, excitation signals applied at multiple head positions, and measures representative of the spatial relationship between the respective mounting positions and the head positions. The wearable tactile feedback device has a bone conduction tactile feedback unit as disclosed herein positioned on the user's head in front of the tragus of the left and right ears (position "A") or behind the antitragus of the left and right ears (position "B"). The wearable tactile feedback device comprises a plurality of bone conduction tactile feedback units as disclosed herein arranged around a wearable headband. The wearable tactile feedback device comprises a plurality of bone conduction tactile feedback units as disclosed herein disposed on either a hat or cap, limb sleeves, and a torso sleeve or jacket. The method, when using bone conduction audio as disclosed herein, includes the steps of mapping a portion of an audio signal that is outside the user's audible frequency range into the user's audible frequency range as a mapped signal, and providing the mapped signal as a first signal. The method comprises the steps of obtaining one or more measurements of head morphology characteristics of a current user as disclosed herein, comparing the one or more measurements with corresponding measurements of a number of reference individuals to identify a closest match, retrieving a previously derived bHRTF for the closest matched reference individual, and providing the retrieved bHRTF to the current user. The method includes the steps of driving one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units with a first signal processed using the "bHRTF" as disclosed herein to correspond to a predetermined direction or location of the user, and indicating the predetermined direction or location to the user in order to train them to recognize tactile and / or audio sensations generated by the one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units.

[0062] The above methods may be implemented using hardware (or alternative hardware), including conventional or dedicated hardware capable of being executed by software instructions.

[0063] Thus, the necessary adaptation to existing portions of the legacy device may be implemented in the form of a computer program product including processor-implementable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium such as a floppy disk, optical disk, hard disk, solid state disk, PROM, RAM, flash memory, or any combination of these or other storage media, or may be realized in hardware as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or other configurable circuitry suitable for adaptation to the legacy device. Alternatively, such computer program may be transmitted via data signals over a network such as an Ethernet, a wireless network, the Internet, or any combination of these or other networks.

[0064] Thus, in a summary embodiment herein, the haptic feedback system is configured as follows.

[0065] First, a wearable haptic feedback device (as a non-limiting example, the headset 54 and HMD 802' shown in Figures 7A,B) that includes one or more bone conduction haptic feedback units.

[0066] Second, an audio processor (e.g., the CPU 20 of the entertainment device 10, or a similar CPU of an HMD, not shown) adapted (e.g., by suitable software instructions) to output a first signal processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function "bHRTF" that is used to drive one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units.

[0067] The bone conduction tactile feedback unit (typically one or more) disclosed herein consists of either one or more of a tactile vibration driver or an audio frequency driver.

[0068] Similarly, as disclosed herein, the first signal is processed using bHRTFs derived using measurement signals obtained at the mounting position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit or at the position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit, excitation signals applied at multiple head positions, and measures representative of the spatial relationship between the respective mounting positions and the head positions.

[0069] The audio processor may be part of the wearable device (e.g., part of the HMD) or may be part of a separate device that communicates wired or wirelessly with the wearable haptic feedback device. Figure 1 shows an example of such a separate device in the form of an entertainment system 10, such as a computer or console, such as the Sony Playstation 5 (PS5)®.

[0070] The entertainment system 10 comprises a central processor 20. This may be a single-core or multi-core processor, for example consisting of eight cores, as in the PS5®. The entertainment system also comprises a graphical processing unit (GPU) 30. The GPU may be physically separate from the CPU, or may be integrated with the CPU as a system-on-chip (SoC), as in the PS5®. As mentioned above, the central processor may be adapted to operate as an audio processor under appropriate software instructions. The CPU 20, the GPU 30, or both may be adapted in this way.

[0071] The entertainment device also comprises RAM 40, which may be separate for each of the CPU and GPU, or may be a shared RAM, as in the PS5®, and the RAM may be physically separate or integrated as part of the SoC, as in the PS5®. Further storage is provided by disk 50, either as an external or internal hard drive, an external solid state drive, or an internal solid state drive, as in the PS5®.

[0072] The entertainment device may transmit and receive data via one or more data ports 60, as appropriate, such as a USB port, an Ethernet port, a WiFi port, a Bluetooth port, etc. Optionally, the entertainment device may also receive data via an optical drive 70.

[0073] Interaction with the system is typically performed using one or more handheld controllers 80, such as the DualSense® controller in the case of the PS5®.

[0074] Audio / visual output from an entertainment device is typically provided via one or more A / V ports 90, or via one or more wired or wireless data ports 60. The first signal processed using the bHRTF may be output in this manner.

[0075] If the components are not integrated, they may be connected via dedicated data links or bus 100 as appropriate.

[0076] An example of a device for displaying images output by an entertainment system is a head mounted display "HMD" 802 worn by a user 800.

[0077] The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention, as well as the claims, are intended to be illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the present invention. The present disclosure, including readily identifiable variations of the teachings herein, defines in part the scope of the foregoing claim terms, so as not to dedicate the inventive subject matter to the public.

Claims

1. providing a wearable tactile feedback device comprising one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units; driving the one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units with a first signal processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function "bHRTF"; 10. A haptic feedback method comprising:

2. The one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units include: i. Haptic vibration driver or ii. Audio frequency driver The haptic feedback method according to claim 1, comprising:

3. 3. The haptic feedback method of claim 2, wherein the one or more bone conduction haptic feedback units include a haptic vibration driver and receive as the first signal a haptic signal for that driver associated with haptic feedback.

4. 4. The haptic feedback method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the one or more bone conduction haptic feedback units include an audio frequency driver and receive as the first signal an audio signal for that driver related to bone conduction audio.

5. 2. The haptic feedback method of claim 1, wherein the first signal is processed using bHRTFs derived using measurement signals acquired at the mounting position of the bone conduction haptic feedback unit or at the position of the bone conduction haptic feedback unit, excitation signals applied at multiple head positions, and measures representative of the spatial relationship between each mounting position and the head position.

6. The wearable haptic feedback device includes the bone conduction haptic feedback unit: i. In front of the tragus of each ear or ii. Behind the antitragus of both ears 2. The haptic feedback method according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is placed on the user's head at a position

7. The tactile feedback method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of the bone conduction tactile feedback units are arranged around a wearable headband.

8. A plurality of the bone conduction tactile feedback units, i. Hats or caps ii. Limb sleeves, or iii. Body sleeve or jacket 2. The haptic feedback method according to claim 1, wherein the haptic feedback is placed on the surface of the object.

9. When using bone conduction audio, mapping a portion of the audio signal that is outside the user's audible frequency range as a mapped signal into the user's audible frequency range; providing the mapped signal as at least a first signal; 2. The haptic feedback method according to claim 1, comprising:

10. obtaining one or more measurements relating to characteristics of the current user's head morphology; comparing the one or more measurements with corresponding measurements of a plurality of reference individuals to identify a closest match; Retrieving a previously derived bHRTF for the closest matched reference individual; providing the retrieved bHRTF to the current user; 2. The haptic feedback method according to claim 1, comprising:

11. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer system to perform the haptic feedback method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions that cause a computer to perform the method of claim 1.

13. a wearable tactile feedback device (54, 802') including one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units; an audio processor (20, 30) that outputs at least a first signal processed using a bone conduction head-related transfer function "bHRTF" used to drive the one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units; A tactile feedback system comprising:

14. The one or more bone conduction tactile feedback units include: i. Haptic vibration driver or ii. Audio frequency driver 14. The haptic feedback system of claim 13, comprising:

15. The tactile feedback system of claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the first signal is processed using a bHRTF derived using a measurement signal acquired at the wearing position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit or at the position of the bone conduction tactile feedback unit, excitation signals applied at multiple head positions, and a measure representative of the spatial relationship between each wearing position and head position.

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