O'Malley, Marcia K.2021-05-032021-05-032021-052021-04-21May 2021Alexander, Stephen Anthony. "Enhancing Haptic Communication with a Wearable Device and Tactile Alphabet." (2021) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110461">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110461</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110461Communication is a cornerstone of human operations. However, there are many scenarios where communication through normal means is not possible, due to visual and aural sensory saturation or impairment. Our sense of touch provides an alternative channel through which we can communicate, and haptic devices give us a means through which we can harness this channel's potential. Multi-sensory haptic devices, which use multiple forms of haptic stimuli, are capable of providing large sets of haptic information, without becoming too large or bulky. However, the most effective approaches to multi-sensory design and haptic communication are yet to be determined. In this thesis, methods of haptic communication through discrete language components are tested. Haptic communication through discrete language components involves the sequential haptic presentations of building blocks for speech, to convey words. Letters and phonemes were tested and compared as discrete language components to determine which language component is superior for haptic communication. Results indicated that letters were superior for haptic communication for both word perception accuracy and response time. Further, a multi-sensory haptic device that uses vibration and squeeze is presented. The device, MISSIVE-2 was evaluated through an absolute identification experiment. Results showed a high level of haptic cue perception accuracy.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.wearable hapticspsychophysical evaluationcutaneous haptic feedbackspeechThesis2021-05-03