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Prototyping Airborne Ultrasonic Arrays

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Ultrasound Mid-Air Haptics for Touchless Interfaces

Part of the book series: Human–Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

Focused ultrasound is the base mechanism for mid-air tactile feedback generation, acoustic levitation, wireless power transfer, directional audio and other emerging applications. The basic required set-up is an ultrasonic emitter with the capability of focusing its acoustic power at a target point. Ideally, a multi-emitter phased array is used since it is capable of steering and shaping the sound field with millimetre accuracy and a time response in the order of milliseconds. There are compelling commercial products and open designs for this kind of ultrasonic arrays. Here, we review the different elements that compose an ultrasonic array: from the emitters and the driving electronics to the signal generators or algorithms. We review some techniques to simulate the output of ultrasonic arrays or to determine the emission phases for target fields. Also, we provide some suggestions for future challenges related to cost, power and heat reduction.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Jovenes Investigadores Grant (UPNA, Spain) and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101017746, TOUCHLESS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UpnaLab, Institute of Smart Cities, Public University of Navarre, Navarre, Spain

    Asier Marzo

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  1. Asier Marzo
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Correspondence to Asier Marzo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ultraleap, Bristol, UK

    Orestis Georgiou

  2. Ultraleap, Bristol, UK

    William Frier

  3. School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Euan Freeman

  4. Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Systèmes Aléatoires (IRISA), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Rennes, France

    Claudio Pacchierotti

  5. Pixie Dust Technologies, Inc., Tokyo, Japan

    Takayuki Hoshi

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Marzo, A. (2022). Prototyping Airborne Ultrasonic Arrays. In: Georgiou, O., Frier, W., Freeman, E., Pacchierotti, C., Hoshi, T. (eds) Ultrasound Mid-Air Haptics for Touchless Interfaces. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04043-6_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04043-6_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-04042-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-04043-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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