A Miniaturized DC Haptic Stimulation Design for E-Textiles

The motivation for this work stems from the need for discreet, energy-efficient haptic feedback solutions in e-textiles. Existing methods for haptic feedback, such as light, heat, or sound, often require significant power or can be detected by others. Our approach uses electrical stimulation to address these limitations. It uses direct current (DC) to stimulate sensory neurons and signal to the textile user. The use of DC allows for smaller electronics than that of conventional alternating current (AC) systems, which enables the circuitry to be embedded as part of a larger system into a garment with the system integrated into a filament diameter less than 3 mm. One caveat, however, is that the optimal design parameters for DC stimulation are not well defined due to the technique being relatively unused. Thus, we designed the system and tested it on human subjects in order to verify the system's functionality and begin to understand the relationship between different stimulation parameters and the human sensation.