Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Haptic Glove Endows User with Dolphin Sonar to Sense Underwater Objects

December 29, 2015 By Sam Brusco

Once again drawing inspiration from the natural world, Ph.D. candidates Aisen Carolina Chacin and Takeshi Ozu of the Empowerment Informatics program at Tsukuba University in Japan have developed a haptic, sonar glove modeled on dolphin echolocation. The technology allows the wearer to “feel” objects underwater without actually touching them. By endowing the user with dolphin sonar powers, IrukaTact (iruka translates to dolphin in Japanese) can prove useful for navigating rescue or reconnaissance missions in limited visibility flooding conditions. 

Here’s how it works: the glove generates haptic feedback by shooting vibrating water jets, the sonar senses underwater objects (regrettably, without accompanying dolphin screech) while also sending a signal that determines the amount of pressure to apply to corresponding fingers. Pressure builds as the wearer approaches an object.

The brains of the operation are three tiny motors, a Maxbotix MB7006 sonar sensor, and an Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller. The researchers were able to achieve simultaneous detection signals and landscape analysis by programming the Arduino Pro Mini to signal three silicone thimbles worn on the index, ring, and middle fingers. (Thumb and pinky are left ungloved for freer movement and deftness.) Haptic force feedback results from water-pumping motors in each thimble, positioned on the fingertips. Finally, a silicone ring worn around the middle finger is attached to wrist sensors, enabling users to know which way their palms face at any moment.

The researchers might also pair it with VR like the Oculus Rift.

IrukaTact’s main challenge at present is its range capability. The effective range hasn’t reached dolphin proportions yet; IrukaTact is only capable of accurate detection with up to two feet of flooding. But the launch date is far off, so the researchers have time to refine the design.

Chacin and Ozu have released IrukaTact’s blueprints so anyone aspiring to be a disaster-relief dolphin can 3D print their own glove. Some assembly is required: you still need to buy and install the motors, sensors, and a microcontroller. But that’s a small price to pay, considering the potential for locating and saving flood victims or sunken items in emergency situations.

You might as well be a superhero at that point—all you’d need is a clever name and a trusty dolphin sidekick. Any ideas?

Besides this, I mean — you don’t want to end up in deep water on copyright infringement…

Related Articles Read More >

Dexcom One
How Dexcom’s portfolio goes beyond highly-anticipated next-gen G7
An illustration of a cloud-shaped room filled with medical devices
The cloud is transforming medtech: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, J&J, Philips and GE Healthcare leaders explain
iRhythm stock soars on Street-beating Q1
Caretaker Medical VitalStream
FDA clears four new parameters for Caretaker Medical’s wireless patient monitoring system

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 13, 2022
Our Pre-Post-DeviceTalks Boston episode, also MedtronicTalks replay with Gastro CMO Austin Chiang
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech