Niceclick: A New Frontier for Haptic Technologies

The use of touch screens and displays is quickly increasing in the automotive industry, especially for supercars. Touchscreen commands are affected by the problem of feedback to drivers, i.e. the driver cannot look at the touch display; indeed, he needs to understand if the required command is received from the car. Haptic surfaces represent the solution to this problem; hence, touch screens with embedded actuators are suitable to switch from mechanical vibrations to human feeling. This paper focuses on an innovative electromechanical device called Niceclick. It is a compact and powerful actuator able to modulate the haptic surface vibrations. After an overview of the tactile perception, measurement systems, human sensibility to vibrations, and psychophysical compliance are analysed to define the parameters of an ideal actuator suitable to create some specific signals, the related frequency bandwidth, and the associate energy profile. The tailored tool, appropriate to get these goals, is described, modelled, and experimentally tested coupled to the fundamental co-system where it is applied. A comparison between rigid and deformative coupled structures is considered to define performance and aims.