Haptic bed: bed-style haptic display for providing weight sensation

We developed a bed-style haptic display "Haptic Bed" that provides weight sensation to wide area of the user's body. This system comprises motors, belts, a cushion and a comforter to press and swing the user lying on the bed. Haptic Bed is a type of whole-body haptic interface, characterized by the presentation of low-frequency force with multiple degrees of freedom. The prototype system with two motors can present a weight sensation to approximately five regions of the abdomen. Although a sensation is only presented to the abdomen in this study, Haptic Bed can present a weight sensation to a wider area by increasing the number of motors. The system has the potential to enrich the audio visual experience in several ways, such as by expressing the sensation of a horrific ghost sitting on the user as part of entertainment content, or by presenting the existence of a remote relative as a telecommunication tool. Overall, the system changes a bed into a new medium through which immersive contents are presented in an immersive manner.