Step-Change in Friction Under Electrovibration

Rendering tactile effects on a touch screen via electrovibration has many potential applications. However, our knowledge on tactile perception of change in friction and the underlying contact mechanics are both very limited. In this article, we investigate the tactile perception and the contact mechanics for a step change in friction under electrovibration during a relative sliding between a finger and the surface of a capacitive touch screen. First, we conduct magnitude estimation experiments to investigate the role of normal force and sliding velocity on the perceived tactile intensity for a step increase and decrease in friction, called rising friction (RF) and falling friction (FF). To investigate the contact mechanics involved in RF and FF, we then measure the frictional force, the apparent contact area, and the strains acting on the fingerpad during sliding at a constant velocity under three different normal loads using a custom-made experimental set-up. The results show that the participants perceived RF stronger than FF, and both the normal force and sliding velocity significantly influenced their perception. These results are supported by our mechanical measurements; the relative change in friction, the apparent contact area, and the strain in the sliding direction were all higher for RF than those for FF, especially for low normal forces. Taken together, our results suggest that different contact mechanics take place during RF and FF due to the viscoelastic behavior of fingerpad skin, and those differences influence our tactile perception of a step change in friction.