-- KarlinBark - 28 June 2004
Progress:

Currently catching up and reading research papers to understand what is out there, what has been done and tried.

Summary of haptic applications:
- Help pilots judge the down vector
- Help scuba divers to judge/orient them to the up vector
- Increase fidelity of feedback for hearing impaired
- Embed tactors in the driver's seat/streering wheel to notify of situations
- Use GPS systems to tell the driver where to turn
- Firefighting scenario- guide through smoke to search
- Special forces- non verbal communication

Built a mockup/funky prototype of a tactor.

Observations
- Difficult to wrap the cloth around my arm
- Feeling of the cloth almost interferes with feeling the tactor
- If the tactor is too round and smooth, it's hard to feel it pressing against the skin
- Used a round button tactor and the end of a machine screw for different shapes
* The screw tactor had sharper edges and hence, you could feel it
- After some time, approximately 1 minute, I forgot that the tactor was there (faster for the button)- the feeling of the cloth wrapped around my arm was more prevalent
* Perhaps we need more force?
- The screw tactor hurts after a period of time...a little too sharp
* Need to find something a little less sharp than the end of the screw, but then it should be alright.

Questions
- Do I know that the tactor is there because I feel it, or because my brain recognizes that it hasn't been lifted yet?
- Is there a need to continually push someone's skin?
The circuitry is finicky: Needs to be more robust.