Thermo-haptic Earable Display for the Hearing and Visually Impaired

Earables/hearables (ear-worn devices) are on the rise as next-generation wearables which are capable of streaming audio, modifying soundscapes, and collecting body vitals. This paper introduces a novel concept of an earable device that can provide thermal (hot and cold) haptic cues at multiple areas around the ear. The concept with discrete thermal encoding can help the hearing and visually impaired individuals to obtain directional and other notifications from mobile and IoT devices. Embedding thermal haptic feedback into an earable form factor have a better edge in terms of privacy of notifications when compared to audio, visual, and vibrohaptic modalities. We conducted a pilot study using a proof-of-concept prototype and confirmed the feasibility of the concept.