ElectroCaresses: Contactless Apparent Motion on the Forearm using Electrostatic Piloerection

Devices capable of stroking the user's forearm are being explored for digitally mediated touch but are mainly contact-based. We propose ElectroCaresses, the use of electrostatic piloerection to convey contactless gentle strokes by generating dynamic patterns of hair erection along the forearm. We investigated if a discrete set of electrodes can convey apparent motion (n=12), and evaluated effects of distance, duration and direction on continuity perception. We show that participants can discriminate stimuli direction with a high accuracy (93%) and perceive a continuous stroking stimulus using discrete signals. We finally propose guidelines for designing haptic illusions of motion using electrostatics-based haptics.