Wearable Haptic Therapy With Movable Contact Projections
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for alternative forms of therapy to address stress and anxiety, improve stress resilience, and provide haptic feedback to users.
Innovation Solution
A wearable device equipped with haptic generators, a user interface, and a housing that can provide haptic therapy, including acupressure and massage, and is configurable to engage or avoid contact with the user, controlled by a controller to deliver vibrations and haptic waveforms for stress relief and therapy guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the projection is directed toward the user to engage for therapy, then haptic therapy effectiveness is improved, but user comfort and wearability deteriorate due to constant contact
Solution Approach 1:
The projection is made movable relative to the housing through a hinge mechanism, allowing it to dynamically switch between contacting the user (for therapy) and avoiding contact (for comfort). The projection can be positioned in a first location to engage the user during therapy sessions and moved to a second location to avoid contact during wear, resolving the contradiction between therapy effectiveness and user comfort.
2Device complexity
If the housing is fixed relative to the wearable support, then structural simplicity is improved, but adaptability of therapy delivery deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The projection is connected to the housing through a hinge mechanism that allows relative movement between the projection and the housing. This dynamic connection enables the projection to be positioned at different locations on the wearable support, providing adaptability in therapy delivery while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device provides multiple therapy modes, then versatility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates multiple haptic generators that can be controlled in different modes (vibration, pulse, rhythm) to provide various therapy types including haptic therapy, acupressure, and massage. A single controller manages all haptic generators and can operate in different modes, enabling multiple therapy functions without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller can operate haptic generators in periodic patterns including vibrations, pulses, and rhythmic patterns to deliver different therapy modes. By using temporal variation in haptic output rather than adding separate physical mechanisms for each therapy type, the device achieves versatility while controlling complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The wearable device effectively provides haptic therapy to relieve stress and anxiety, enhance stress resilience, and guide users through therapeutic sessions, using configurable projections and haptic feedback to mimic touch, breathing patterns, and music, enhancing user engagement and relaxation.
Implementation Method 1
the controller, in the second configuration, is configured to generate vibrations to be felt by the user
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods can be used to provide therapy to users and/or to monitor various physiological parameters of the user.