This project explores the potential of a material system based on SMAs that generates haptic feedback for Visually Impaired People (VIPs). Since VIPs rely more than others on tactile information, there is a need for more natural and unintrusive haptic devices as the commonly used electromechanical actuations are often perceived as intrusive and less acceptable than non-vibrating feedback. SMAs emerge as a promising solution to address these challenges effectively, due to their inherent ability to create silent, organic sensations, while being lightweight, thin, and flexible (Cruz et al., 2018).

The aim of this project is to investigate the unique characteristics of SMAs and translate this into an integrated material system that could inspire designers to adopt these materials and revolutionize tactile experiences. The process had an explorative nature and included a research, form configuration and embodiment phase. Most current haptic systems based on SMAs have the limitation of small actuation ranges and/or difficulties in integrating them in soft material systems. Therefore, in this project, a soft integrated material system is designed that shows the potential of incorporating SMA and SE flat springs into an origami-paper textile to create haptic feedback.
By using the combination of the SMA-SE flat springs, an easy integration of the wires in the paper-textile is enabled and a two-way actuation is created with a displacement of around 16%. Through the use of the origami structure, the two-dimensional shape change of the SMA spring is transformed in a three-dimensional shape change creating rich tactile feedback that can be perceived passively as well as actively.

The sensations generated by the material system were easily perceived with the hands and the movement was characterized as natural, calm and gentle by sighted participants. This demonstrates that there is a potential for creating an integrated material system based on flat springs SMAs that generated haptic feedback for VIPs in a natural and new way. Additionally, based on all these findings, a guideline was developed for SMA wires with the aim to give an overview of all steps involved when designing a material system based on SMAs.