a wearable electromagnetic INterface for contactlesS envIronmental sensinG with HapTic feedback

IN-SIGHT will contribute to the new generation of electronic travel aids (ETA) for visually impaired people by proposing the first augmented reality wearable electromagnetic haptic interface. The interface will be designed entirely on a flexible substrate and integrated inside a glove, replacing the actual generation of rigid bulky sensors. It will include a radar, an array of reconfigurable super-directive flexible antennas conformal to the body and a network of haptic actuators. The super-directive antennas together with ad-hoc designed super-resolution algorithm (i.e. overcoming the radar sensor resolution) will be proposed for an accurate sensing of the environment, aimed at improving the navigation ability of visually impaired people. The system will also allow to remotely feel the surrounding environment and objects’ shape. The haptic actuators located inside the glove will be used to convey a contactless tactile sensation to the user. A solid phantom of the human hand will be used to experimentally test the exposure and device performance for multiple conditions and realistic scenarios.This proposal is perfectly in line with the research priorities of the EU, since it aims to boost the innovation in digital technologies and wearable electronics, while facilitating the integration of visually impaired people in the society and significantly improving their independence. IN-SIGHT is an intrinsically interdisciplinary and intersectoral project, involving antenna design, radar signal processing, bioelectromagnetics, and haptics. This fellowship will be carried out at Université de Rennes 1/IETR (FR) thanks to the unique available know how in flexible antennas, microelectronics, and bioelectromagnetics, under supervision of Prof. R. Sauleau. A secondment (4 months) is also planned in the Rogers research group, Northwestern University (USA), under supervision of Professor J. A. Rogers, worldwide expert in wearable and flexible biosensors.