A compact tactile display for the blind with shape memory alloys

Abstract

This paper presents a novel tactile display device that exhibits some advantageous features for the blind: low-cost, lightweight, compactness and high portability. The prototype consists of an 8 times 8 arrangement of tactile pins actuated by shape memory alloys (SMAs) with 2.6 mm spatial resolution and 1 mm vertical excursion. Unlike existing devices, the full display is only 200 g weight and its compact dimensions make it easily carried by the user. A technical overview of the system is presented as well as preliminary results on tactile perception to evaluate its performance on information transmission