Flat Panel Haptics: Embedded Electroosmotic Pumps for Scalable Shape Displays

We present a new, miniaturizable type of shape-changing display using embedded electroosmotic pumps (EEOPs). Our pumps, controlled and powered directly by applied voltage, are in thickness, and allow complete stackups under 5mm. Nonetheless, they can move their entire volume’s worth of fluid in 1 second, and generate pressures of /-50kPa, enough to create dynamic, millimeter-scale tactile features on a surface that can withstand typical interaction forces. These are the requisite technical ingredients to enable, for example, a pop-up keyboard on a flat smartphone. We experimentally quantify the mechanical and psychophysical performance of our displays and conclude with a set of example interfaces. Citation: Shultz, Craig and Harrison, Chris. 2023. Flat Panel Haptics: Embedded Electroosmotic Pumps for Scalable Shape Displays. To appear in Proceedings of the 41st Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (April 23 – 30, 2023). CHI ’23. ACM, New York, NY.