This paper presents the design and fabrication of a wearable tactile communication interface with vibrotactile feedback for assistive communication. The interface is based on finger Braille, which is a simple and efficient tactile communication method used by deafblind people. It consists of a flexible piezoresistive sensor and a vibrotactile actuator integrated together and positioned at the index, middle and ring fingers of both hands to represent the six dots of Braille. The sensors were made using flexible piezoresistive material whereas the actuator utilizes electromagnetic principle by means of a flexible coil and a tiny NdFeB permanent magnet. Both were integrated to realize a Bluetooth-enabled tactile communication glove which enables deafblind people to communicate using Braille codes. The evaluation with 20 end-users (10 deafblind and 10 sighted and hearing person) of the tactile interface under standardized conditions demonstrated that users can feel and distinguish the vibration at frequencies ranging from 10Hz to 200Hz which is within the perceivable frequency range for the FA-II receptors. The results show that it took non-experts in Braille within 25s and 55s to send and receive words like “BEST” and “JOURNAL”, with an accuracy of ~75% and 68% respectively.

中文翻译：

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基于集成式触摸传感器和执行器的可穿戴辅助触觉通信接口

本文介绍了具有触觉反馈的可穿戴触觉通信界面的设计和制造，以进行辅助通信。该界面基于盲文手指，这是聋哑人使用的一种简单有效的触觉通信方法。它由一个柔性压阻传感器和一个触觉致动器组成，这些传感器集成在一起并位于两只手的食指，中指和无名指上，以表示盲文的六个点。传感器使用柔性压阻材料制成，而执行器则通过柔性线圈和微小的NdFeB永磁体利用电磁原理。两者都集成在一起，以实现支持蓝牙的触觉通信手套，使盲人可以使用盲文代码进行通信。在标准条件下，对20个最终用户（10个聋盲和10个有视力和听力的人）的触觉界面进行了评估，结果表明，用户可以感觉到并分辨出10Hz到200Hz频率范围内的振动，该频率在FA的可感知频率范围内-II受体。结果表明，盲文专家在25s和55s内发送和接收“ BEST”和“ JOURNAL”之类的单词，其准确度分别为〜75％和68％。