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International Industrial Design Departments Collaborate on "Shape-Haptics" Project

A "sandbox" for designers to explore/create shape-haptics mechanisms

By Rain Noe - November 22, 2022

in Object Culture

"Shape-Haptics" is a project done in collaboration between the Industrial Design departments of the National University of Singapore and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"Shape-Haptics [is] an approach for designers to rapidly design and fabricate passive force feedback mechanisms for physical interfaces. Such mechanisms are used in everyday interfaces and tools, and they are challenging to design."

"Shape-Haptics abstracts and broadens the haptic expression of this class of force feedback systems through 2D laser cut configurations that are simple to fabricate. They leverage the properties of polyoxymethylene plastic and comprise a compliant spring structure that engages with a sliding profile during tangible interaction. By shaping the sliding profile, designers can easily customize the haptic force feedback delivered by the mechanism."

"We provide a computational design sandbox to facilitate designers to explore and fabricate Shape-Haptics mechanisms. We also propose a series of applications that demonstrate the utility of Shape-Haptics in creating and customizing haptics for different physical interfaces."

Here are some more demonstrations of applications. I thought the add-on for the VR controller was pretty clever:

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You can access the Shape-Haptics "sandbox" here.

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Stan VanDruff

a year ago

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You can find their contact info here: https://interactive-materials.github.io/#people

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- kent murphy
  
  Stan VanDruff
  
  a year ago
  
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kent murphy

2 years ago

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The GIF shows a plastic spring using polyoxymethylene plastic. My patent application from 1990 shows a concept for a plastic spring to be used in a retractable writing instrument.  https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=EP12155006&_cid=P12-KLA73Z-44056-6

The drawing seen at the link simply shows the concept, the intent being for design experts to perfect it. The material at the time was polypropylene, which, perhaps, would not have worked properly, as does the decades-later polyoxymethylene.

Finally, the time is right for this concept for a retractable writing instrument with a plastic spring. A design similar to that shown in the GIF should work perfectly.

Anybody know how to contact the people doing this "shape-haptic" work?

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