Tactile sensation presentation method

Abstract

The present invention provides a tactile sensation presentation method for presenting a variety of tactile sensations. Provided is a tactile sensation presentation method for presenting a tactile sensation by a low-frequency vibration pattern, wherein the vibration pattern presents the tactile sensation by controlling the acceleration of a waveform.

Description

Tactile presentation method

[0001] The present invention relates to a tactile sensation presentation method, and more particularly to a tactile sensation presentation method that presents a tactile sensation by vibration.

[0002] Conventionally, tactile presentation devices that present various tactile sensations to a user have been proposed, as in Patent Documents 1 to 4. Furthermore, as an element that presents a tactile sensation, an element that presents a tactile sensation by vibration has been proposed, as in Patent Documents 5 and 6.

[0003] Furthermore, with regard to the variety of tactile sensations that can be presented by the vibration of such elements, an attempt has been proposed to visualize the sensory evaluation of tactile materials by treating onomatopoeia that express tactile sensations as tactile sensory categories, as in Non-Patent Document 1.

[0004] Japanese Patent No. 4111278 Japanese Patent No. 6955229 Japanese Patent No. 7064177 Japanese Patent No. 7174337 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-73159 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-73166

[0005] Junji Watanabe, Arisa Kano, Maki Sakamoto, "Visualization of Tactile Material Sensitivity Evaluation Tendency Using Onomatopoeia Distribution Maps," Journal of the Japan Society of Kansei Engineering, Japan Society of Kansei Engineering, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 353-359, 2014; Daniel Zymelka, Toshihiro Takeshita, Yusuke Takei, Takeshi Kobayashi, Takashi Hanakawa, "Soft Packaging of Flexible Piezoelectric Actuators for Applications in Wearable Haptic Devices," 2024 IEEE 37th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), IEEE, pp. 383-385, 2024

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a tactile sensation presentation method that presents a variety of tactile sensations.

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a tactile sensation presentation method for presenting a tactile sensation by outputting a low-frequency vibration pattern, characterized in that the vibration pattern presents the tactile sensation by controlling the acceleration of a waveform.

[0008] According to this, by controlling the acceleration and frequency of the waveform as parameters, it is possible to manipulate the change in the output of the low-frequency vibration pattern and present any desired tactile sensation. Here, at least one of the acceleration and frequency of the waveform is controlled.

[0009] In the present invention, the vibration pattern may be composed of pulses combining curves calculated from a formula with acceleration as a coefficient, and have a specific frequency, and the tactile sensation may be presented by manipulating the acceleration of the change in output by controlling the coefficient and the frequency.

[0010] According to this, in a vibration pattern having a specific frequency, which consists of pulses combining curves calculated from a formula with acceleration as a coefficient, by controlling the coefficient and frequency of the formula, it is possible to manipulate the acceleration of the output change and present any tactile sensation.

[0011] In the present invention, the vibration pattern may consist of pulses having a width obtained by multiplying 1 / 2 the period of a predetermined reference waveform by a predetermined ratio, and have the same frequency as the reference waveform, and the tactile sensation may be presented by manipulating the acceleration of the change in the output by controlling the predetermined ratio and the frequency.

[0012] This allows for the presentation of any tactile sensation by controlling the acceleration of the output change in a vibration pattern generated using a predetermined ratio to a reference waveform and frequency as parameters.

[0013] In the present invention, the frequency of the vibration pattern may be set to 45 to 20 Hz.

[0014] In the present invention, the vibration pattern may be a low-frequency envelope generated by amplitude modulating a carrier wave having a higher frequency than the low frequency, and the tactile sensation may be presented by controlling the acceleration of the low-frequency envelope.

[0015] In this way, the low-frequency envelope created by amplitude modulation of a higher-frequency carrier wave can present tactile sensations that are difficult to perceive with a single waveform.

[0016] In the present invention, the frequency of the low frequency envelope may be 10 Hz or less.

[0017] The vibration pattern is a low-frequency envelope generated by amplitude modulation of a carrier wave higher in frequency than the low frequency, and by controlling the acceleration of the low-frequency envelope, it can be made perceptible even in the low-frequency range below 10 Hz, which is difficult to perceive with a single pulse shape.

[0018] In the present invention, the tactile sensation may be presented by controlling the frequency and a predetermined ratio by which half the period of the low-frequency envelope is multiplied.

[0019] In the present invention, the acceleration of the waveform may be controlled to present the tactile sensation that can be estimated from a predetermined tactile evaluation prediction system.

[0020] In this way, by using a tactile evaluation prediction system that uses a predictive model to predict any tactile sensation to be presented, it is possible to estimate the tactile sensation felt by a vibration stimulus from a vibration pattern of a specific pulse shape and frequency.

[0021] In the present invention, the vibration may be applied by vibrating a thin-film type actuator.

[0022] In the present invention, the vibration may be applied by vibrating a plurality of the actuators.

[0023] In the present invention, the frequency of the vibration pattern may be 50 Hz or less.

[0024] In this way, it is possible to present a variety of tactile sensations by using vibrations in a specific low-frequency band.

[0025] The present invention also provides a tactile sensation presentation method for presenting a tactile sensation by outputting a low-frequency vibration pattern, characterized in that the vibration pattern presents the tactile sensation by controlling the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform to manipulate the speed of change in the output and / or the acceleration of the change in the output.

[0026] According to this, by controlling the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform as parameters, it is possible to manipulate the speed of change in output of the low-frequency vibration pattern and / or the acceleration of the change in output, thereby presenting any desired tactile sensation. Here, at least one of the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform is controlled.

[0027] In the present invention, the vibration pattern may consist of pulses having a width equal to half the period of a predetermined reference waveform multiplied by a predetermined ratio, and have the same frequency as the reference waveform, and the tactile sensation may be presented by manipulating the speed of change in the output and / or the acceleration of change in the output by controlling the predetermined ratio and the frequency.

[0028] This allows for the presentation of any tactile sensation by controlling the speed and acceleration of the output change in a vibration pattern generated using a predetermined ratio to a reference waveform and frequency as parameters.

[0029] In the present invention, the frequency of the vibration pattern may be set to 45 to 20 Hz.

[0030] In the present invention, the vibration pattern is a low-frequency envelope generated by amplitude modulating a carrier wave higher in frequency than the low frequency, and the tactile sensation may be presented by manipulating the speed and / or acceleration of the low-frequency envelope.

[0031] In this way, the low-frequency envelope created by amplitude modulation of a higher-frequency carrier wave can present tactile sensations that are difficult to perceive with a single waveform.

[0032] In the present invention, the frequency of the low frequency envelope may be 10 Hz or less.

[0033] The vibration pattern is a low-frequency envelope generated by amplitude modulation of a carrier wave higher in frequency than the low frequency, and by manipulating the speed and / or acceleration of the low-frequency envelope, it can be made perceptible even in the low-frequency range below 10 Hz, which is difficult to perceive with a single pulse shape.

[0034] In the present invention, the tactile sensation may be presented by controlling the frequency and a predetermined ratio by which half the period of the low-frequency envelope is multiplied.

[0035] In the present invention, the tactile sensation that can be estimated from a predetermined tactile sensation evaluation prediction system may be presented by controlling the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform to manipulate the speed of change in the output and / or the acceleration of change in the output.

[0036] In this way, by using a tactile evaluation prediction system that uses a predictive model to predict any tactile sensation to be presented, it is possible to estimate the tactile sensation felt by a vibration stimulus from a vibration pattern of a specific pulse shape and frequency.

[0037] In the present invention, the vibration according to the vibration pattern may be applied by vibrating a thin-film type actuator.

[0038] In the present invention, the vibration according to the vibration pattern may be applied by vibrating a plurality of the actuators.

[0039] In the present invention, the frequency of the vibration pattern may be 50 Hz or less.

[0040] In this way, it is possible to present a variety of tactile sensations by using vibrations in a specific low-frequency band.

[0041] According to the present invention, a variety of tactile sensations can be presented.

[0042] Figures 1(A) to 1(C) are graphs showing an example of generating a waveform pulse by manipulating acceleration. Figures 2(A) to 2(F) are other graphs showing an example of generating a waveform pulse by manipulating acceleration. Figures 3(A) to 3(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for onomatopoeia. Figures 4(A) to 4(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for other onomatopoeia. Figures 5(A) to 5(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for other onomatopoeia. Figure 6 is a graph showing the contribution of each onomatopoeia. Figures 7(A) to 7(C) are graphs explaining the pulse ratio in a sine wave pattern. Figures 8(A) to 8(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for onomatopoeia using pulse ratio-manipulated waveform stimuli. FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for other onomatopoeia using pulse ratio manipulated waveform stimuli. FIGS. 10(A) to 10(C) are graphs showing standardized average ratings for other onomatopoeia using pulse ratio manipulated waveform stimuli. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the contribution of each onomatopoeia to pulse ratio manipulated waveform stimuli. FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B) are diagrams explaining the processing of the tactile rating prediction system. FIGS. 13(A) and 13(B) are diagrams explaining the processing of the tactile rating prediction system. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of decoding neural activation patterns in response to tactile sensations. FIGS. 15(A) and 15(B) are diagrams showing an example of applying a haptic device to a controller device. FIGS. 16(A) and 16(B) are diagrams explaining a meaning transmission system using tactile sensations. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a multi-channel haptic device. Figures 18(A) and 18(B) are graphs explaining vibration patterns with amplitude modulation. Figure 19 is a graph explaining the frequency and perception threshold of vibration patterns with a single sine wave pattern and vibration patterns with amplitude modulation. Figures 20(A) to 20(C) are graphs showing the standardized average ratings of the tactile sensation of vibration patterns with amplitude modulation.

[0043] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. However, unless otherwise specified, the configurations described in this example are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0044] Example 1 Here, a method for providing various tactile sensations to a user by applying vibrations will be described. The configuration of a haptic device that provides vibrations to a user is not particularly limited, but an example is a device described in Patent Document 6 that controls the voltage applied to a thin-film piezoelectric actuator and outputs vibrations in the normal direction of the thin film to provide various vibrations to the user. Furthermore, as will be described later, the haptic device may include multiple actuators.

[0045] The inventors have found that low-frequency vibration stimulation can provide a unique tactile sensation that differs from general vibratory sensation. Here, the low-frequency band refers to, for example, 50 Hz or less, preferably a range including 20-45 Hz, and may also include a range of 10 Hz or less, as described below.

[0046] In order to quantitatively evaluate the tactile sensation obtained by such a vibration pattern, a quantitative stimulus-evaluation function for the tactile sensation was identified using the acceleration and frequency of the vibration stimulus waveform as parameters. Although there is no particular limitation on the method for creating a waveform that varies the acceleration, here, a pulse variation function (y = -ax ２ ) was used to generate a pulse curve of constant acceleration. Here, a is the acceleration coefficient. Also, here, the pulse variation function corresponds to the calculation formula of the present invention in which the acceleration coefficient is used as a coefficient, and the acceleration coefficient corresponds to the coefficient of this calculation formula.

[0047] The graph shown in Figure 1(A) is a curve showing the change in the above-mentioned pulse variation function when a = 2. Here, the amplitude range is limited to 0.0 to -1.0 within a 1.0-second period, and no displacement occurs beyond this range. The graph shown in Figure 1(B) is a curve showing a pulse generated by connecting two curves generated with an acceleration coefficient (a = 2) similar to the curve shown in Figure 1(A) and flipping them horizontally. The graph shown in Figure 1(C) shows a vibration stimulus waveform generated by connecting the pulses shown in Figure 1(B) in normal and reverse directions and combining them at a specific peak frequency period, with time on the horizontal axis and amplitude on the vertical axis. The amplitude is corrected so that it gradually peaks (±15) in the first and last 10% of the total time. The graph shown in Figure 2(A) is a curve showing the change in the above-mentioned pulse variation function when a = 1. The graph shown in Figure 2(B) shows a vibration stimulus waveform generated using this pulse variation function, with time on the horizontal axis and amplitude on the vertical axis. The graph shown in Figure 2(C) is a curve showing the change in the pulse variation function when a = 4. The graph shown in Figure 2(D) shows the vibration stimulation waveform generated using this pulse variation function, with time on the horizontal axis and amplitude on the vertical axis. The graph shown in Figure 2(E) is a curve showing the change in the pulse variation function when a = 25. The graph shown in Figure 2(F) shows the vibration stimulation waveform generated using this pulse variation function, with time on the horizontal axis and amplitude on the vertical axis.

[0048] When evaluating the tactile sensations presented to the user, we employ a method using Japanese onomatopoeia proposed in Non-Patent Document 1 to distinguish and identify various tactile sensations.

[0049] 3 to 5 are graphs showing the standardized average ratings for each onomatopoeia. The horizontal axis represents the acceleration coefficient and the vertical axis represents the frequency, and the standardized average ratings are indicated by the shading on the right side of the graph.

[0050] Figure 3(A) shows the standardized mean rating values ​​for each onomatopoeia: "undulating," Figure 3(B) shows "rustling," Figure 3(C) shows "rustling," Figure 4(A) shows "soft," Figure 4(B) shows "rustling," Figure 4(C) shows "buubuu," Figure 5(A) shows "purupuru," Figure 5(B) shows "mozomozo," and Figure 5(C) shows "mowamowa."

[0051] A principal component analysis was performed based on the ratings of each onomatopoeia described above. Figure 5 is a graph showing the contribution (eigenvector) of each onomatopoeia to the first principal component (Principal Component 1), the second principal component (Principal Component 2), and the third principal component (Principal Component 3), with each principal component on its axis. Here, the cumulative contribution rate up to the third principal component is 0.572.

[0052] The contribution of each onomatopoeia to the first, second, and third principal components was classified into three groups enclosed by ellipses using K-means clustering. The solid-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Gasa-Gasa," "Zaa-Zaa," and "Buu-Buu." These have a rough, noisy feel with a voiced consonant in the first mora, and are labeled "Rough." The dashed-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Mowa-Mowa," "Sawa-Sawa," "Sala-Sala," "Une-Une," and "Mozo-Mozo." These have a soft, slow, and moving feel, and are labeled "Smooth." Finally, the dotted-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Pulu-Pulu." This is a sensation specialized in vibration expression, and is named "Vibration." The methods of principal component analysis and clustering of onomatopoeia are not limited to those described above.

[0053] In this way, by controlling the vibration stimulus pattern using the frequency and acceleration coefficient of the vibration applied to the user as parameters, it is possible to present a variety of tactile sensations.

[0054] Example 2 As another method for generating a waveform for manipulating acceleration, a quantitative stimulus-evaluation function for tactile sensation was identified using the ratio of the pulse width in 1 / 2 cycle (referred to as the "pulse ratio") when the pulse width of a sine wave is 1 and the frequency as parameters. Here, the sine wave corresponds to the pulse shape and reference waveform of the waveform of the present invention, and the pulse ratio corresponds to the predetermined ratio of the present invention. The reference waveform of the present invention is not limited to the sine wave described above, but may also be a waveform generated from the pulse variation function described in Example 1.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the pulse ratio in a sine wave pattern. FIG. 7(A) is a graph showing a perfect sine wave with a pulse ratio of 1 superimposed on a sine pattern with a certain pulse ratio. FIG. 7(B) is a graph showing a waveform of a sine pattern with a frequency of 40 Hz and a pulse ratio of 0.5, and FIG. 7(C) is a graph showing a sine pattern with a frequency of 20 Hz and a pulse ratio of 0.8. Here, the perfect sine wave corresponds to the reference waveform of the vibration pattern in the present invention. In the following examples, as an example of controlling the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform, a case where the pulse ratio and frequency are controlled as parameters will be described, but this is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform are controlled to manipulate the rate of change of the output of the vibration pattern and / or the acceleration of the change of the output, but the control parameters are not limited thereto.

[0056] When evaluating the tactile sensations presented to the user, a method using Japanese onomatopoeia proposed in Non-Patent Document 1 is adopted to distinguish and identify various tactile sensations, as in Example 1 relating to the acceleration coefficient operation waveform.

[0057] 8 to 10 are graphs showing the standardized average ratings for each onomatopoeia. The horizontal axis represents the pulse ratio and the vertical axis represents the frequency, and the standardized average ratings are indicated by the shading on the right side of the graph.

[0058] Figure 8(A) shows the standardized mean rating values ​​for each onomatopoeia: "undulating," Figure 8(B) shows "rustling," Figure 8(C) shows "rustling," Figure 9(A) shows "soft," Figure 9(B) shows "rustling," Figure 9(C) shows "buubuu," Figure 10(A) shows "purupuru," Figure 10(B) shows "mozomozo," and Figure 10(C) shows "mowamowa."

[0059] A principal component analysis was performed based on the ratings of each onomatopoeia described above. Figure 5 is a graph showing the contribution (eigenvector) of each onomatopoeia to the first principal component (Principal Component 1), the second principal component (Principal Component 2), and the third principal component (Principal Component 3), with each principal component on its axis. Here, the cumulative contribution rate up to the third principal component is 0.711.

[0060] The contribution of each onomatopoeia to the first, second, and third principal components was classified into three groups enclosed by ellipses using K-means clustering. The solid-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Gasa-Gasa," "Zaa-Zaa," and "Buu-Buu." These have a rough, noisy feel with a voiced consonant in the first mora, and are labeled "Rough." The dashed-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Mowa-Mowa," "Sawa-Sawa," "Sala-Sala," "Une-Une," and "Mozo-Mozo." These have a soft, slow, and moving feel, and are labeled "Smooth." Finally, the dotted-line ellipsoid includes the onomatopoeia "Pulu-Pulu." This is a sensation specialized in vibration expression, and is named "Vibration." The methods of principal component analysis and clustering of onomatopoeia are not limited to those described above.

[0061] In this way, by controlling the vibration stimulation pattern using the frequency and pulse ratio of the vibration applied to the user as parameters, it is possible to present a variety of tactile sensations.

[0062] Example 3: This example describes a tactile rating prediction system that uses a prediction model to estimate tactile sensations felt from vibration pattern parameters. Figures 12 and 13 are diagrams illustrating the processing of the tactile rating prediction system. Specifically, this system uses a multivariate regression model to predict ratings for nine onomatopoeia based on arbitrary frequency and pulse ratio values. Figure 12 shows an example where a frequency of 18 Hz and a pulse ratio of 0.89 are input. Figure 12(A) is a graph specifically illustrating the stimulation pattern for such a frequency and pulse ratio. Figure 12(B) is a graph showing the rating values ​​for each onomatopoeia predicted using the multivariate regression model from the above-described input. In this example, the predicted ratings for "undulating," "purupuru," "mozumozu," and "mowamowa" are calculated to be high values ​​exceeding 4. Figure 13 shows an example where a frequency of 43 Hz and a pulse ratio of 0.22 are input. Figure 13(A) is a graph specifically illustrating the stimulation pattern for such a frequency and pulse ratio. Figure 13(B) is a graph showing the rating values ​​of each onomatopoeia predicted using a multivariate regression model based on the input data described above. In this example, the predicted ratings of "ga ga sa," "za za," and "buu buu" are calculated to be particularly high.

[0063] In this way, the tactile evaluation prediction system can be used to estimate the tactile sensation felt by a vibration stimulus from the vibration pattern of a specific parameter. Also, by controlling a haptic device, it is possible to present the tactile sensation that can be estimated by this tactile evaluation prediction system.

[0064] (Application Example 1) An application example of the above-described vibration stimulus tactile presentation method will be described below. Fig. 14 shows an example in which vibration stimuli of vibration pattern W1 and vibration pattern W2 are presented to a user 3 by a tactile presentation device 2 worn on a hand 1. Here, for example, the vibration pattern W1 is a rough / buzzing vibration pattern, and the vibration pattern W2 is a smooth / meandering vibration pattern. The neural activation pattern Bi11 is a schematic representation of a neural activation pattern obtained by imaging the brain of the user 3, to which the vibration stimulus of the vibration pattern W1 has been presented, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Similarly, the neural activation pattern Bi12 is a schematic representation of a neural activation pattern obtained by imaging the brain of the user 3, to which the vibration stimulus of the vibration pattern W2 has been presented, using fMRI. By processing such nerve activation patterns with the information processing system 5, it is possible to identify a coding pattern Bi21 of a tactile sensation corresponding to Rough / Buzzing and a coding pattern Bi22 of a tactile sensation corresponding to Smooth / Meandering, and to decode a variety of tactile sensations from the nerve activation patterns.

[0065] (Application Example 2) Below, another application example of the vibration stimulus presentation method described above will be described. By creating a module that presents a variety of tactile sensations with a single vibration stimulus according to the vibration stimulus presentation method described above, it is possible to achieve a high amount of tactile information and a sense of reality even with a haptic device with a limited size. Figures 15(A) and 15(B) show a controller device 11. By incorporating a haptic device 13 into the operation button 12 or grip portion 11a of an existing controller device 11, it becomes possible to develop products at low cost.

[0066] (Application Example 3) The following describes another application example of the vibration stimulus presentation method described above. Figures 16(A) and 16(B) show a system having a button-shaped tactile presentation device equipped with a module that presents a variety of tactile sensations with a single-point vibration stimulus, as described in Application Example 2. By forming a button-shaped haptic device 14 that provides such a single-point vibration stimulus, a variety of tactile sensations can be used to construct a more intuitive meaning transmission system that uses only tactile sensation, similar to Braille. By controlling the frequency and pulse ratio of the vibration stimulus provided by the haptic device 14, it is possible to present a "rustly" tactile sensation as shown in Figure 16(A) or a "fluffy" tactile sensation as shown in Figure 16(B). Such a meaning transmission system can be applied to a wide range of fields, such as assistance for people with disabilities and interactive device development.

[0067] (Application Example 4) Below, another application example of the vibration stimulus presentation method described above will be described. FIG. 17 shows an array-type haptic device 15. This haptic device 15 has a configuration in which the one-channel (ch) haptic devices 151 to 155 described in Application Example 2 are arranged in a circumferential array, as proposed in Non-Patent Document 2. The multi-channel haptic device 15 can present the vibration waveform described above at multiple points using each of the haptic devices 151 to 155. This makes it possible to simultaneously provide the above-described tactile sensation at multiple locations, or to manipulate the timing to present a tactile sensation different from that provided by a single one-channel haptic device alone. The array-like arrangement of multi-channel actuators that produces such different tactile sensations is not limited to the circumferential arrangement of the haptic device 15 described above.

[0068] Example 4 In Example 1, a method for presenting a variety of tactile sensations by controlling the acceleration coefficient and frequency of a vibration pattern generated from a pulse variation function was described. Furthermore, in Examples 2 and 3, a method for presenting a variety of tactile sensations by controlling the frequency and pulse ratio of a vibration pattern formed by a single-frequency sine wave was described. The inventors discovered that new tactile sensations can be presented by amplitude-modulating a higher-frequency carrier wave to produce the above-mentioned low-frequency vibration pattern as an envelope. Here, the low-frequency envelope corresponds to the low-frequency envelope of the present invention. Below, a case where the low-frequency envelope is a sine pattern will be described, but the same applies to a vibration pattern where the low-frequency envelope is generated from a pulse variation function.

[0069] FIG. 18A is a graph showing the envelope of a sine wave with a frequency of 2 Hz that is generated by amplitude modulating a carrier wave that is a sine wave of 30 Hz.

[0070] FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating the frequency and perception threshold of a single sine wave pattern and an amplitude-modulated vibration pattern. With the single sine wave (dashed line), frequencies below 20 Hz are difficult to perceive, but with the amplitude-modulated wave, perception is possible regardless of the carrier frequency. By providing stimulation using a vibration pattern obtained by amplitude-modulating a high-frequency sine wave, it is possible to perceive lower frequencies of 10 Hz or less, which are imperceptible with stimulation using a single sine wave vibration pattern. It has also been found that the perception threshold is lower when the carrier frequency is 200 or 300 Hz (solid line) than when the carrier frequency is 30, 50, or 100 Hz (dotted line), and that carrier frequencies of 200 Hz and 300 Hz are most easily perceived. Furthermore, compared to a single sine wave vibration pattern, smaller vibrations are perceptible, making it possible to suppress output.

[0071] As described above, even for vibration patterns in which the envelope generated by amplitude-modulating a higher-frequency carrier wave has a low frequency, a variety of tactile sensations can be presented by controlling the envelope frequency and pulse ratio, as in Example 1. Figure 18(B) is a graph showing the envelope of the sine wave generated by amplitude modulation in Figure 18(A) controlled at a pulse ratio of 0.5. Figure 20 is a graph showing the standardized average ratings of the degree to which rough, smooth, and vibration were perceived for vibration patterns in which the pulse ratio was manipulated when the frequencies of the envelope generated by amplitude-modulating the carrier wave were 10, 5, and 1. This shows that even at frequencies below 10 Hz, it is possible to change each tactile sensation by manipulating the pulse ratio, and that there is a continuous relationship with the parameters of tactile sensation change due to pulse ratio manipulation in a vibration pattern composed of a sine wave of a single frequency without a carrier wave.

[0072] The vibration stimulation presentation method described above can be applied to various fields, such as the fields of virtual reality, games, amusement, and entertainment, and IT, including portable communication devices, information terminal devices, navigation devices, and portable information terminal devices, as well as simulations and remote control in the fields of robotics, medicine, welfare, and space development.

[0073] 13, 14, 17 Haptic devices

Claims

1. A tactile presentation method for presenting a tactile sensation by outputting a low-frequency vibration pattern, wherein the vibration pattern presents the tactile sensation by controlling the acceleration of a waveform.

2. The tactile presentation method described in claim 1, characterized in that the vibration pattern is made up of pulses combining curves calculated from a formula with acceleration as a coefficient, has a specific frequency, and presents the tactile sensation by manipulating the acceleration of the change in output by controlling the coefficient and the frequency.

3. The tactile presentation method described in claim 1, characterized in that the vibration pattern is composed of pulses having a width obtained by multiplying half the period of a predetermined reference waveform by a predetermined ratio, has the same frequency as the reference waveform, and presents the tactile sensation by manipulating the acceleration of the change in output by controlling the predetermined ratio and the frequency.

4. The tactile presentation method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the frequency of the vibration pattern is 45 to 20 Hz.

5. The tactile presentation method according to claim 1, characterized in that the vibration pattern is a low-frequency envelope generated by amplitude modulating a carrier wave higher in frequency than the low frequency, and the tactile sensation is presented by controlling the acceleration of the low-frequency envelope.

6. The tactile presentation method according to claim 5, wherein the frequency of the low-frequency envelope is 10 Hz or less.

7. The tactile sensation presentation method according to claim 6, wherein the tactile sensation is presented by controlling the frequency and a predetermined ratio by which half the period of the low-frequency envelope is multiplied.

8. A tactile presentation method according to claim 1, characterized in that the tactile sensation that can be estimated from a predetermined tactile sensation evaluation prediction system is presented by controlling the acceleration of the waveform.

9. A tactile presentation method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the vibration is imparted by vibrating a thin-film type actuator.

10. The tactile presentation method according to claim 9, wherein the vibration is imparted by vibrating a plurality of the actuators.

11. A tactile presentation method for presenting a tactile sensation by outputting a low-frequency vibration pattern, characterized in that the vibration pattern presents the tactile sensation by controlling the pulse shape and frequency of the waveform to manipulate the speed of change in the output and / or the acceleration of the change in the output.

12. The tactile presentation method described in claim 11, characterized in that the vibration pattern consists of pulses having a width equal to 1 / 2 the period of a predetermined reference waveform multiplied by a predetermined ratio, has the same frequency as the reference waveform, and presents the tactile sensation by controlling the predetermined ratio and the frequency to manipulate the speed of change in the output and / or the acceleration of change in the output.

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