# 2020

Touch me Gently

About

A wearable device that recreates the sensation of human touch

Touch me Gently is a prototype simulator of human touch based on a lightweight and stretchable plaster matrix of Shape-Memory-Alloys (SMA). The wires arranged within the plaster can generate haptics and different forces that simulate the sensation of touch. The current prototype is attached to the forearm and it can produce a smoother transition between tapping, stroking, and squeezing. The result is an on-skin haptic interface that interfaces with the human skin in an unobtrusive way.

Graduates

Denys J.C. Matthies
The University of Auckland
Denys J.C. Matthies is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck. He received the following academic degrees: B.A. Interface Design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, M.Sc. Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Munich, and Dr.-Ing. in Computer Science at the University of Rostock. He underwent a two-years Postdoc at the Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland. During his academic career, he worked at several other research institutes, including the Telekom Innovation Laboratories in Berlin, the NUS HCI Lab in Singapore, and the Fraunhofer IGD Rostock in Germany. Since 2011, Denys conducts and publishes research in the domain of Human-Computer Interaction. His research interest is in augmenting humans with wearable technology also intersecting with the medical domain. Since 03/2020, Denys switched from research to a full-time teaching position.more
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Sachith Muthukumarana
The University of Auckland
Sachith is a Ph.D. candidate at the Augmented Human Lab of Auckland Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He first joined the Augmented Human Lab as a student intern while completing his undergraduate degree. Once he completed his honors degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, he enrolled at the UoA to pursue his Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction. Sachith is passionate about Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Assistive Augmentation, and Haptic Interfaces. Apart from academic interests, he likes sports, food, and traveling.more
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Suranga Nanayakkara
The University of Auckland
Suranga Nanayakkara - Suranga Nanayakkara is an Associate Professor at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, the University of Auckland (UoA). Before joining UoA, Suranga was an Assistant Professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and a Postdoctoral Associate at the Fluid Interfaces group, MIT Media Lab. He received his Ph.D. in 2010 and BEng in 2005 from the National University of Singapore. In 2011, he founded the "Augmented Human Lab" to explore ways of creating ‘enabling’ human-computer interfaces as natural extensions of our body, mind, and behaviour. Suranga is among that rare breed of engineers that has a sense of “humanity” in technology. This ranges from practical behavioral issues, understanding real-life contexts in which technologies function, and understanding where technologies can be not just exciting or novel, but have a meaningful impact on the way people live. The connection he feels to the communities in which he lives and with whom he works is a quality that will ensure his research will always have real relevance.more
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