Tangio Hapmantics™
Next-Gen Smart Haptic Headset & The First Haptic-based Semantic Database
Patent-Pending Haptic & Audio Interfaces
Tangio Headset
It is the first smart haptic headphone incorporating a new layer in communication, a tangible interface, empowered by the first haptic-based semantic library, to provide surround haptic stimulations and multi-sensorial sound experience to reinvent remote conversations and digital interaction. It allows users not only to hear but also to feel the conversation in real-time, communicating both verbally and “tangibly".
Hapmantics Dataset
The intervention also delivers the first haptic-based semantic dataset, a dictionary of haptic recipes, or haptic emojis which understand your conversation, and pair the “right” stimulus with the “appropriate” contexts in real time. 400 haptic representations from 45 main sequences were examined by users and transferred into 20 haptic recipes, towards which users have similar perceptions relating to the designed contexts.
iF Design Award 2023
Professional Concept Winner
iF Design Award 2023
International Design Award 2023
Royal College of Art Degree Show 2022
Imperial College London Exhibition 2022
UK-China Technology Summit 2022
Challenge：
Touch Crisis
We are in transition to a hyper-digital lifestyle with remote living and working as the new norm. However, digital communication neglects tactile sensation substantially and has impacted our wellbeing. Findings suggest depression, anxiety, PTSD, mental and immune disorders increased by up to 40% as a result of touch and tactile deprivation.
My intervention seeks to compensate for the loss of physical interaction in digital communication by incorporating a new layer, a tangible interface, to translate gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, emotions, and other stimuli into haptic representations to augment remote conversations.
Design Engineering
Tangio Hapmantics™ allows users to not only hear but also feel the conversation remotely. The smart headset (physical) features bone-conduction audio modules for stereo sound and a linear vibrator array evenly distributed on the headband for surround haptic stimulation. The tangible interface (digital) consists of an audio layer (base) that conveys audio content and a haptic layer (top) that transmits directional stimulations in sequence.
Advanced Prototyping and Mechanical Structure Finalisation – The outcome of a series of trials evaluating various wearables embodiments on different body locations, and informed by the bodily ergonomic map of touch and motion sensitivity, as well as emotional responses.
Hapmantics™
Haptic Dataset
Dictionary of the Haptic Recipes
400+ Haptic Representations with 45+ Main Sequences, as well as material amplifications and dynamic lighting colour themes, were examined to map emotions and other stimuli to the "correct" tangible representations in the "appropriate" context. The adventure continues.
Anthropometric Design Methods & Practice
The demonstration of using anthropometry-informed design methodologies and advanced measuring and modeling tools to create ergonomically fit headsets that provide better wearability, functionality, and comfortability.
Disciplines
Design Technology | Tangible Human-machine Interaction | HCI | Physical Computing | Affective Haptics | Design Engineering
Role
Solo Research
MSc/MA Thesis
Intellectual Properties
4 Invention Disclosures
2 Design Registries
Sole Inventor
Patent Pending
Achievements
iF Design Award 2023 Professional Concept
InnovationRCA Start-up Program:
Finalist & Most Innovative Award
Exhibited in Imperial College London 22’
Royal College of Art 22’
Appreciation
Special thanks to Fernando Galdon, Stephen Green, Bjorn Sommer, Elena Dieckmann, Savina, Dan Hu and the teaching team of the MSc/MA Innovation Design Engineering program from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art
