OriFeel: Origami-Inspired Actuation for Force-Based Tactile Feedback on Ambient Surfaces

Abstract: People are constantly in touch with surfaces in their lives, such as a sofa, armrest, and table, making them natural tactile interfaces. Despite the recent advancements in shape-changing surfaces, current available solutions are often challenging to retrofit into ambient surfaces due to their bulky form factor or high power requirements. We present \name, a foldable structure-enabled tactile feedback mechanism that leverages the structural properties of Miura-Ori fold to enable on-surface force actuation. The foldable structure allows the surfaces to provide perpendicular force via lateral actuation, resulting in a slim form factor that can be actuated via cable-based design using a servo motor. We evaluate the system with a real-world prototype and a user study. The user study shows that users can effectively distinguish multiple intensity levels.