Confinement of Vibrotactile Stimuli in Periodically Supported Plates.

For multitouch and multiuser interactions on a touch surface, providing a local vibrotactile feedback is essential. Usually, vibration propagation impedes this localization. Previous work showed that narrow strip-shaped plates could allow the confinement of vibrotactile stimuli to the actuated area. Adding to this principle, periodically supported plates also provide a non-propagative effect at low frequencies. Using both geometrical properties, we provide a device allowing a multitouch interaction through an array of piezoelectric actuator. Experimental validation show that vibrations are well confined on top of actuated areas with vibration amplitude over 2 \\(\\upmu \\)m.