Haptic devices use the sense of touch to transmit information to the nervous system. As an example, a sound-to-touch device processes auditory information and sends it to the brain via patterns of vibration on the skin for people who have lost hearing. We here summarize the current directions of such research and draw upon examples in industry and academia. Such devices can be used for sensory substitution (replacing a lost sense, such as hearing or vision), sensory expansion (widening an existing sensory experience, such as detecting electromagnetic radiation outside the visible light spectrum), and sensory addition (providing a novel sense, such as magnetoreception). We review the relevant literature, the current status, and possible directions for the future of sensory manipulation using non-invasive haptic devices.
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) affects 1 in 10 adults in the United States, often with damaging psychological consequences. Currently, there exists no cure for most forms of tinnitus. Recently, bimodal stimulation – the pairing of sounds with haptic stimulation – has shown efficacy in reducing the symptoms of tinnitus. Previous bimodal stimulation approaches have used electrical shocks on the tongue, a technique that requires daily in-person sessions at an audiologist’s office. We here show that excellent results can be achieved wearing a wristband with multiple vibratory motors. Tones are played and the wristband correspondingly vibrates the wrist of the user at different spatial locations depending on the frequency of the tone. We compared the experimental group with a control group who listened to the tones but did not wear the wristband. The tone frequencies were centered on each user’s tinnitus frequency and the tones were randomized both in frequency and duration. 45 participants with Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) scores of 25 and above were tested. Results show a significantly greater reduction in TFI scores for the experimental group compared to the control. Importantly, with higher baseline severity we find larger differences between the experimental and control groups, revealing greater symptom improvement for those with severe tinnitus. The therapeutic approach of combining sounds with spatially- and temporally-correlated vibrations on the wrist is found to be a simple, time-efficient, and effective procedure to lessen the symptoms of tinnitus.
High frequency hearing loss is one of the most common problems in the aging population and with those who have a history of exposure to loud noises. To address high-frequency hearing loss, we developed a multi-motor wristband that uses machine learning to listen for specific high frequency phonemes. The wristband vibrates in spatially unique locations to represent which phoneme was present, in real time. We recruited 16 participants with high frequency hearing loss and asked them to wear the wristband for six weeks. Their degree of disability associated with hearing loss was measured weekly using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB). Our findings show that vibrotactile sensory substitution delivered by a wristband that produces spatially distinguishable vibrations in correspondence with high frequency phonemes helps individuals with high frequency hearing loss improve their understanding of verbal communication. We find that vibrotactile feedback provides benefits whether or not a person wears hearing aids, albeit in slightly different ways. Finally, our results also demonstrate that individuals with the greatest difficulty understanding speech prior to the study experience the greatest amount of benefit from vibrotactile feedback.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.