What kind of haptic perception can we get with a one-wire interface?

Abstract

A haptic interface designed for exploration of unknown environments by a visually impaired person is presented. The main feature of this interface is that it is based on a single actuated wire, and therefore is a defective device, with minimum three actuators for 30 environments. The defectiveness of the device is partially compensated by using proper control strategies. Experiments on a laboratory setup are presented and discussed.