Microsoft Patent | Wearable Device

Patent: Wearable Device

Publication Number: 20180356890

Publication Date: 2018-12-13

Applicants: Microsoft

Abstract

A wearable device is described which comprises a plurality of actuators. The actuators in the wearable device are adjustable relative to one another in terms of their position and in various examples, the actuators may be adjustable relative to one another in terms of their duty cycle, power and/or position based on sensor data.

Background

Haptic stimulation systems apply forces or vibrations to stimulate a user’s sense of touch. Touch-screen devices may use haptic feedback to indicate key presses to a user; games controllers may use haptic feedback to increase video game immersion (e.g. by vibrating in response to a collision or explosion within a video game) and smart watches may use haptic feedback to provide silent alerts to the wearer.

The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages of known haptic stimulation systems.

Summary

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its sole purpose is to present a selection of concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

A wearable device is described which comprises a plurality of actuators. The actuators in the wearable device are adjustable relative to one another in terms of their position and in various examples, the actuators may be adjustable relative to one another in terms of their duty cycle, power and/or position based on sensor data.

Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.