Magnetically-Gated Haptic Locomotion Display Enabled by Motion-Coupled Light Emission

Magnetic actuation is a powerful strategy in robotics for tactile feedback, navigation, and biomedical applications and can be extended to interactive displays by coupling mechanical motion with optical emission. Here, we present a magnetically-gated haptic locomotion display (MHLD) that integrates a flexible alternating-current (AC)-driven quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) with a magnetoresponsive elastomeric soft actuator. Under external magnetic fields, the soft actuator deforms and modulates its contact with the AC display, triggering electroluminescence (EL) whose emission area and intensity are directly coupled to mechanical displacement. A maximum luminance of 396 cd m^{- 2} was achieved, with emission area and intensity varying with deformation. The device maintains stable output under repeated actuation, with directional motion programmable via magnetization profiles. Demonstrations include a 3 × 3 haptic feedback array visualizing pixel displacement and a maze-navigating locomotive display with path-dependent emission. Finite element simulations support the contact-mediated formation of the vertical electric field underlying motion-coupled light emission.