Multimodal, Flexible Actuators for Interactive Surfaces

Interactive surfaces have garnered significant attention in Human-Computer Interaction, with fluid-driven actuators being a promising actuation technology due to their flexible form factors and multimodal interactivities. However, traditional fluid-driven systems typically rely on bulky and noisy electromechanical hardware, limiting their portability and practicality. While recent work has introduced compact hydraulic actuators like electroosmotic pumps (EOPs) in haptic devices, their potential for building multifunctional interactive surfaces remains largely unexplored.

In this work, we present MorphingSkin, a skin-like platform that integrates multiple, multimodal hydraulic actuators using flexible EOPs as lightweight and self-contained fluidic actuators. We introduce the architecture of MorphingSkin and its versatile design space for multimodal actuation in force, shape, optical, and weight domains. We demonstrate interactive and robotic applications that integrate multiple actuators working collectively within a single MorphingSkin device. Through this work, we envision the future of using MorphingSkin technology for interactive surfaces that integrate flexible form factors and multimodal actuation capabilities.

For more information, please refer to our lab page: https://morphingmatter.org/projects/morphingskin.