Patent ID: 11954254
Assignee: CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. An on-skin electrotactile apparatus for stimulating a first area of skin of a user to provide a haptic feedback to the user, the apparatus comprising:
an electrode-array unit comprising a plurality of electrodes for electro-stimulating the first area of skin to generate the haptic feedback; and
a driver unit configured to generate a plurality of pulsed voltage signals for driving the plurality of electrodes to thereby induce a plurality of excitation currents flowing into the user, the driver unit being further configured to be self-powered or wirelessly powered for avoiding installing an external electrical cable to draw in external electrical power to thereby support untethered electrotactile stimulation to the user, the driver unit including a common counter electrode arranged to contact a second area of skin of the user for collecting the plurality of excitation currents returned from the user, wherein the common counter electrode is located on an outer surface of the driver unit and the driver unit is largely able to bend without breaking, facilitating the common counter electrode to seamlessly contact the second area of skin for achieving a stable electrode-skin interface while positioning the driver unit as a whole on the second area of skin to provide untethered virtual touching experience to the user.