Sensory Perception & Interaction Research Group

SPIN research in haptic notification and movement guidance spans a number of different project arches, as seen through associated publications.

Designed as a bland, unobtrusive appliance, Calmer is a bed for premature infants that replicates mothers' breathing movement and heart rate. 

Educational haptic platforms can leverage various modalities in order create effective interactive environments that can support embodied physical interactions. These platforms have the potential to leverage a student’s physical intuition to make abstract topics in physics, math, and other fields of science more concrete. 

Investigating the challenges involved in haptic experience design from hapticians involved in industry to novices starting out in the field. We are aiming to create effective solutions such as tools to help hapticians at different stages in the haptic design process. 

Haptipedia is a comprehensive library of haptic devices annotated with designer-relevant metadata, then accessed through an interactive visualization to assist designers in finding relevant design examples.

MacaronMix is an online, open-source tool for morphing haptic signals. Designers, researchers, and hapticians can use this tool to create and study haptic icons, and to develop new morphing algorithms. Link: http://hapticdesign.github.io/macaronmix/

The CuddleBot allows us to use an animal model of therapy to examine how touch interactions influence stress and anxiety mitigation.

A wearable haptic notification system for speakers and session chairs.

People differ widely in how they perceive and want to use tactile signals. What kind of tools are needed to support them in customizing?

The smart fur prototype is a new type of touch sensor built with conductive fur, with the goal of aiding in gesture recognition in the Haptic Creature system.