FI20215101A1 - Method and arrangement for producing haptic effects in a movable part of a user device - Google Patents

Abstract

A user device comprises a first part (101) and a second part (102), which constitutes a hand-held body. A movable attachment (103) between said first and second parts (101, 102) allows a user of the user device to hold the second part (102) by hand and move the first part (101) during use. A haptic transducer (104) produces haptic effects for said user during use. Said first part (101) comprises a first sub-part (701) and a second sub-part (702). Said haptic transducer (104) comprises a first half (105) and a second half (106). The first half (105) is attached to said first sub-part (701) and said second half (106) is attached to said second sub-part (702).

Description

METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR PRODUCING HAPTIC EFFECTS IN A MOVABLE PART OF A USER DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention is generally related to the field of user devices that have haptic effects as a part of their user experience. The invention is particularly related to electrically operated transducers that can be used to make one or more surfaces of the user device convey the haptic effects to the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Haptics in general means the technology of us- ing forces, vibrations, and/or motions to a user to generate an experience of touch. Haptics can be used in hand-held user devices as an effect that makes the user experience more versatile. For example, the hand-held controllers used as a part of the user interface of many video game devices may include means for producing hap- tic effects such as vibration. Cleverly designed haptic effects may be used to deceive the human sensory system so that the user believes to feel e.g. a macroscopic movement of a button under their finger, even if in reality there is only a relatively stable structure that undergoes a short, intensive, elastic deformation or N vibration in a much smaller scale. N In order to have optimal applicability in hand- O held user devices, an arrangement for producing haptic 2 30 effects should be small in size, have a low energy con- Ek sumption, allow for versatile ways in attaching to the * other structures of the device, and preferably be pos- O sible to manufacture at low cost.

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SUMMARY It is an objective to provide a method and an arrangement for producing haptic effects in user devices in an optimal way.

Another objective is to enable pro- ducing haptic effects in such parts of a user device that are movably attached.

According to a first aspect there is provided an arrangement for producing haptic effects in a user device.

The arrangement comprises a first part and a second part of the user device, of which the second part constitutes a hand-held body of the user device.

A mov- able attachment is provided between said first and sec- ond parts of the user device for allowing a user of the user device to hold the second part by hand and move the first part in relation to the second part during use of the user device.

A haptic transducer 1s provided for producing haptic effects for said user during said use of the user device.

The first part comprises a first sub-part and a second sub-part.

The haptic transducer comprises a first half and a second half, of which said first half is attached to said first sub-part of the first part and said second half is attached to said second sub-part of the first part.

According to an embodiment the haptic trans- ducer comprises an arrangement of permanent magnets, of which at least a first permanent magnet is located in — said first half and at least a second permanent magnet S is located in said second half.

At least one coil may = then be configured to create, under influence of an = 30 electric current flowing through said coil, dynamic mag- N netic forces in said haptic transducer.

E According to an embodiment the second part of — the user device comprises a current source for feeding = sald electric current into said at least one coil.

N 35 According to an embodiment said movable at- N tachment is a swivel joint, slide joint, or elastically deforming joint for allowing said user to utilize said first part as a trigger to be pulled by a finger of the same hand that holds the second part.

According to an embodiment the arrangement com- prises a detector configured to produce a detection sig- nal in response to the user applying to said first part a force for moving the first part in relation to the second part. A controllable driver circuit may then gen- erate said electric current to said coil in response to a control signal. A controller may be coupled to said detector and to said driver circuit. The controller may be configured to produce said control signal in response to receiving said detection signal.

According to an embodiment said detector and said haptic transducer are different elements.

According to an embodiment said haptic trans- ducer is configured to also operate as said detector.

According to an embodiment the arrangement com- prises an electric coupling between said coil and said controller for enabling said controller to detect a cur- rent induced into said coil and to use such detected current as said detection signal.

According to an embodiment said first sub-part and said second sub-part are coupled to each other through elastic suspension means for making the first sub-part move in relation to said second sub-part under influence of the haptic effects produced by said haptic transducer.

N According to an embodiment said first sub-part N and said second sub-part are coupled to each other O 30 through rigid suspension means for making the first suk- 2 part undergo elastic deformations under influence of the =E haptic effects produced by said haptic transducer. * According to an embodiment the first permanent O magnet and the second permanent magnet have similarly = 35 named magnetic poles facing each other in the permanent S magnet arrangement. A magnetic repulsion between said similarly named magnetic poles may then push, in the absence of any intentional counteracting force caused by the user, the first sub-part into a released position away from the second sub-part. According to a second aspect there is provided a method for producing haptic effects in a user device. The method comprises responding to a detected predeter- mined way of a user using a user device that comprises a first part and a second part, of which the second part is a hand-held body of the user device and the first part is movably attached to it, by making a current flow through a coil of a haptic transducer, two halves of which are attached to respective ones of two sub-parts of said first a part of the user device, so that said current creates dynamic magnetic forces that together with static magnetic forces created by permanent magnets of said haptic transducer produce the desired haptic effect. According to an embodiment the method comprises detecting a predetermined movement of the first part of the user device in relation to the second part thereof and creating said current as a response to said detec- tion. According to an embodiment the method comprises performing said detecting of a predetermined movement by detecting a current induced into said coil of the haptic transducer.

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N BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS = 30 The accompanying drawings, which are included N to provide a further understanding of the invention and E constitute a part of this specification, illustrate em- — bodiments of the invention and together with the de- = scription help to explain the principles of the inven- N 35 tion. In the drawings: N Figure 1 illustrates an arrangement,

Figure 2 illustrates a possible detail of the arrangement of fig. 1, Figure 3 illustrates the possible use of a sep- arate detector, 5 Figure 4 illustrates the possible use of a transducer also as a detector, Figure 5 illustrates a possible location of parts in an arrangement, Figure 6 illustrates another possible location of parts in an arrangement, and Figure 7 illustrates an arrangement according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This description uses the term haptic trans- ducer. This means in particular a transducer that has been described as an acoustic and/or haptic transducer in any of the following previous patent or utility model applications: FI20195599, FI20175942, FI20205298, FI20206132, US16/776,428, US16/138,993, US16/427,377, EP19216516.5, GB1420483.8, GB15801194.0, CN202020145485.4, FI20215082. These are all incorpo- rated herein by reference. Certain features are common to the transducers that are meant here and described as haptic transducers. The transducer comprises two parts, which may be called — the first half and the second half. The use of the term S “half” does not mean that said parts of the transducer = should have mutually equal size, mass, diameter, height, = 30 or any other dimension. The term is used here only as N an illustrative name to make unambiguous reference to E the two main parts of a transducer. Other names like — "first transducer part” and "second transducer part” = could be used quite as well. N 35 The transducers of the kind meant here comprise N an arrangement of permanent magnets, of which at least a first permanent magnet is located in the first half and at least a second permanent magnet is located in the second half. The purpose of the permanent magnets is to create - possibly together with other parts of the transducer, like one or more surrounding cover parts made of magnetic material - a static magnetic force. The static magnetic force may be for example such that there are one or more balance positions, in which the first and second halves of the transducer are at a local min- imum of magnetic potential energy.

Typically, the physical structure of the trans- ducer is such that there is a natural direction of move- ment in which at least one of the first and second halves may move in relation to the other during operation. If the general outline of the transducer is that of a box or case with an essentially flat bottom and - parallel to it - a relatively flat top, the bottom may be gener- ally defined by the first half and the top may be gen- erally defined by the second half. In such a case, the direction of a symmetry axis that goes essentially per- pendicularly through the bottom and top may be said natural direction of movement. One or more points along the natural direction of movement are then the balance positions referred to above.

Yet another feature common to the haptic trans- ducers meant here is the provision of one or more coils in the transducer. At least one such coil is configured to create, under influence of an electric current N through said coil, dynamic magnetic forces in the haptic N transducer. Various options exist for placing the O 30 coil(s) in relation to the first and second halves of 2 the transducer, as well as in relation to the permanent Ek magnets that make up the arrangement of permanent mag- * nets. Each such option may have its own advantages and O disadvantages, but for the purposes of this description = 35 the location of the coil(s) — like the exact configura- S tion of the arrangement of permanent magnets - has lit- tle significance.

The haptic effect produced by the transducer is the result of feeding an electric current of desired waveform to the coil(s). Under the combined influence of the dynamic magnetic forces created this way and the static magnetic forces intrinsic to the arrangement of permanent magnets, a relative movement arises between the first and second halves of the transducer. Attach- ments of the first and second halves of the transducer to further parts of the device that houses the trans- ducer convey this relative movement further, so that eventually the user will feel the conseguences of said relative movement using their senses. The user may sense said consequences of the relative movement either di- rectly, by touching at least one of those parts of the user device to which at least one of the first and second halves is attached, or indirectly so that there are one or more further parts in between. Fig. 1 illustrates schematically an arrange- ment for producing haptic effects in a user device. The arrangement comprises a first part 101 and a second part 102 of the user device. Of these, the second part 102 constitutes a hand-held body of the user device. This means that the second part 102 is of a size and shape that enables a human user to grab and hold by one or two hands. Typically, but not necessarily, the first part 101 is smaller than the second part 102 of the user device.

N The arrangement shown in fig. 1 comprises a N movable attachment 103, here called the movable joint, O 30 between the first and second parts 101 and 102 of the 2 user device. The purpose of the movable attachment 103 Ek is to allow a user of the user device to hold the second * part 102 by hand and move the first part 101 in relation O to the second part 10? during use of the user device. = 35 As an illustrative, non-limiting example one may imagine S that the user device is a game controller that the user utilizes to play a video game. In such a case the second part 102 may be the hand-held body of the game control- ler, while the first part 101 may be a trigger, a joy- stick, a knob, or similar user interface feature that the user may manipulate by using one or more fingers. The arrangement comprises a haptic transducer 104 for producing haptic effects for the user during said use of the user device. The haptic transducer 104 comprises a first half 105 and a second half 106. Also comprises in the haptic transducer, although not shown in fig. 1, is an arrangement of permanent magnets as already described above. At least a first permanent mag- net is located in the first half 105 and at least a second permanent magnet is located in the second half

106. Also comprised (and located) in the haptic trans- ducer 104 is at least one coil, which is configured to create, under influence of an electric current flowing through said coil, dynamic magnetic forces in the haptic transducer 104. The first half 105 of the haptic transducer 105 is attached to the first part 101 of the user device, and the second half 106 is attached to the second half 102 of the user device. Thus, taken the movable attach- ment between the first and second parts 101 and 102 of the user device, the first half 105 of the haptic trans- ducer 104 moves along with the first part 101 of the user device and the second half 106 of the haptic trans- ducer 104 moves along with the second part 102 of the N user device. N The attachments of the first half 105 to the O 30 first part 101 on one hand and the second half 106 to 2 the second part 102 on the other hand means that the Ek user may feel the haptic effects produced by the haptic * transducer 104 in either one - or both - of the first O and second parts 101 and 102. In line with the illus- = 35 trative example above, if the user device is a game S controller and the first part 101 is a trigger, the user may feel e.g. a vibrating effect and/or a sensory-sys- tem-deceiving feeling of movement while pulling the trigger.

Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of certain more detailed parts of the arrangement according to an embodiment.

The first and second halves 105 and 106 of the haptic transducer are shown, as are parts of the first and second parts 101 and 102 of the user device.

The first permanent magnet 201 and the second permanent magnet 202, each located in their respective halves of the haptic transducer, both have the general outline of a relatively flat slab or pill.

Polarities of the per- manent magnets are schematically illustrated with hatch- ing.

In this embodiment the similarly named poles of the first and second permanent magnets face each other in the arrangement of permanent magnets.

This has the nat- ural consequence that one part of the resulting static magnetic forces is a repulsing force that tries to push the first half 105 of the haptic transducer away from the second half 106. As is known from many of the patent applica- tions that were mentioned above and incorporated herein by reference, other structures like cover parts of the haptic transducer may direct the magnetic fields so as to create a balancing, attractive magnetic force.

As the magnitudes of both said repulsing force and said at- tractive force depend on distance, together they may N give rise to one or more balance positions at which the N net magnetic force in the direction of movement is zero.

O 30 However, the repulsing force mentioned above may also 2 be utilized as an addition to or a replacement of a =E return spring.

In such an embodiment the magnetic re- * pulsion between the similarly named magnetic poles of O the permanent magnets pushes, in the absence of any = 35 intentional counteracting force caused by the user, the S first part into a released position away from the second part.

Such a functionality may be particularly useful if the first part 101 of the user device is a spring, joystick, knob, or other feature that should always re- turn to a released position when the user is not actively operating it.

In the embodiment of fig. 2 the coil 203 has the shape of a relatively flat ring that encircles the second permanent magnet 202. Many other shapes are pos- sible for the coil, as are many other locations in re- lation to the permanent magnets. As non-limiting exam- ples, the coil may be stacked on top or below one or more of the permanent magnets, or the coil may be located in an opening in the center of a ring-shaped permanent magnet or ring-shaped set of several permanent magnets.

Another feature shown in the embodiment of fig.

2 is the provision of a current source 204 in the second part 102 of the user device. As the second part 102 constitutes a hand-held body of the user device, and is typically larger in size than the first part 101, plac- ing the current source 204 in the second part may give more freedom in the structural design in the user device than trying to squeeze it in the first part 101. If the second part 102 is further connected to a larger appa- ratus, like if there is a power cord between the second part 102 and such a larger apparatus, the current source 204 may be considered conceptually as the route that the electric current takes through the second part 102 even if the actual, original source of the current would be N further away. For simplicity of design, it is advanta- N geous to have the coil 203 located in that half of the O 30 haptic transducer that is attached to the part of the 2 user device housing the current source 204. This is not =E a necessary requirement, however, because various con- * nector means can be utilized to power a coil even from O a different part of the arrangement. = 35 The exact nature of the movable attachment 103 S between the first and second parts 101 and 102 of the user device is not very important. It may be for example a swivel joint, a slide joint, or an elastically de- forming joint. As already mentioned above, one possible reason for providing such a movable attachment may be to allow the user to utilize the first part 101 as a trigger to be pulled by a finger of the same hand that holds the second part 102.

Fig. 3 shows an example of connections between some possible further parts of the arrangement. In the embodiment of fig. 3 the arrangement comprises a detec- Lor 301 that is configured to produce a detection signal in response to the user applying to the first part 101 a force for moving the first part 101 in relation to the second part 102. Also comprised in the arrangement, here in the second part 102, is a controllable driver circuit 302 for generating the electric current to the coil in response to a control signal. A controller 303 is cou- pled to said detector 301 and to said driver circuit

302. The controller 303 is configured to produce said control signal in response to receiving said detection signal.

The embodiment of fig. 3 involves the advantage that the controller 303, which may be a microprocessor or microcontroller for example, may time the production of haptic feedback to the user in an exact manner with reference to how the user operates the user device.

Again referring to the trigger example, the detector 301 may inform the controller 303 about when, how far, N and/or how fast the user pulls the trigger. The con- N troller 303 may then instruct the driver to generate O 30 such a current that makes the user feel just the appro- 2 priate haptic feedback that should result from such op- Ek erating of the trigger.

* The detector 301 and the haptic transducer may O be different elements of the user device, as suggested = 35 by drawing them separate in fig. 3. Fig. 4 illustrates S another alternative, in which the haptic transducer 104 is configured to also operate as the detector. Such an embodiment may utilize for example the fact that a rel- ative movement of the first and second parts of the user device, like pulling a trigger for example, results in a corresponding relative movement of the first and sec- ond halves of the haptic transducer 104. This, in turn, means a relative movement of at least one of the perma- nent magnets of the permanent magnet arrangement in re- lation to the coil, which may induce an electric current of detectable magnitude and direction in the coil. There may be an electric coupling between the coil and the controller for enabling the controller to detect a cur- rent induced into the coil. If the controller 303 has suitable means for detecting such a current, it may utilize it as the detection signal mentioned above. Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a large class of possible embodiments in which the first part 101 is movable in relation to the second part 102 between a released position (shown on the left in fig. 5) and an operated position (shown on the right). In the released position the first and second halves 105 and 106 of the haptic transducer are located at a first distance from each other. In the operated position the first and sec- ond halves 105 and 106 of the haptic transducer are located at a second distance from each other. Of these, the second distance is smaller than the first distance. The idea here is that since it is more probable that the user should be given haptic feedback when operating the N movable first part 101 than when not operating it, the N actual operating position of the haptic transducer (i.e. O 30 the relative position of the first and second halves 2 that facilitates effective production of a haptic ef- =E fect) should come about in the operated position of the * first part 101.

O In the embodiment of fig. 5 the movement of the = 35 first part 101 in relation to the second part 102 is a S swiveling movement around an axis 501. The same princi- ple could be easily applied, however, with for example a linear movement in which the first part would slide along a pair of guides or rails. The nature of the relative movement is not limited in any respect. Fig. 6 illustrates another embodiment, in which the movable attachment is again a swivel joint. It is configured to allow the first part 101 to rotate around a swivel axis 601 with respect to the second part. The second part is not shown in fig. 6, but it is easy to understand how the swivel joint could be implemented by e.g. making a round shaft 602 in the first part 101 engage with a corresponding round hole or slot in the second part. In the embodiment of fig. 6 the first and sec- ond halves 105 and 106 of the haptic transducer are rotationally symmetric about a common axis of symmetry

603. The term “rotationally symmetric” is used here in a wide sense, so that details that are not important to actual operation, like the location of the input and output wires that link the coil in the transducer to an external current source, are not taken into account. The first and second halves 105 and 106 of the haptic trans- ducer are placed with their axis of symmetry 603 coin- cident with the swivel axis 601. This involves the ad- vantage that the geometric factors affecting the oper- ation of the haptic transducer do not change at all during operation. Thus haptic effects of all kinds can be produced irrespective of whether the user has oper- N ated the first part 101 and if so, to what extent. N Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment in which the O 30 first part of the user device comprises a first sub- 2 part 701 and a second sub-part 702. As described before, =E the haptic transducer 104 comprises a first half and a * second half. As a difference to the other embodiments O described above, the first half of the haptic transducer = 35 104 is attached to the first sub-part 701 of the first S part and the second half is attached to the second sub- part 702 of the first part.

The first and second sub-parts 701 and 702 are coupled to each other through suspension means 703. Ac- cording to an embodiment, the suspension means 703 con- stitute elastic suspension means for making the first sub-part 701 move in relation to the second sub-part 702 under influence of the haptic effects produced by the haptic transducer 104. Another possibility is that the suspension means 703 constitute rigid suspension means for making the first sub-part 701 undergo elastic de- formations under influence of the haptic effects pro- duced by the haptic transducer 104. Thus the terms “elastic” and “rigid” are used here as relative defini- tions.

Their meaning is to be interpreted by examining, whether the produced haptic effects involve primarily moving the whole first sub-part 701 in relation to the second sub-part 702 or whether they involve primarily (at least) the first sub-part 701 deforming elastically.

The suspension means 703 may involve elements that are elastic by form and/or material, like springs and/or solid pieces of elastomer materials.

Additionally or alternatively, they may involve rigid attachment means such as glue, screws, rivets, welded seams or the like.

In some embodiments they may involve joint means, such as swivel joints or sliding joints for example.

In one embodiment the suspension means involve a joint lo- cated in one direction from the haptic transducer and a spring or other elastic member in another direction, so N that the movement of the first sub-part caused by the N haptic transducer has the nature of moving about said O 30 joint while tending to return to a relaxed position 2 defined by the elastic member. =E In the embodiment of fig. 7 it is possible to * utilize a magnetic repulsion between the two halves of O the haptic transducer 104 as a spring force.

In other = 35 words, a first permanent magnet in the first half and a S second permanent magnet in the second half of the haptic transducer 104 may have similarly named magnetic poles facing each other in the permanent magnet arrangement. A magnetic repulsion between said similarly named mag- netic poles then pushes, in the absence of any inten- tional counteracting force caused by the user, the first sub-part 701 into a released position away from the second sub-part 702.

As the first part 101 is assumed to be rela- tively small in relation to the second part 102 of the user device, also in the embodiment of fig. 7 the current source 204 is part of the second part. A connection 704 exists for allowing the current generated in the current source 204 to flow into the coil in the haptic transducer

104. The connection 704 is advantageously built so that it does not impede the movement of the first part in relation to the second part. Fig. 7 shows schematically how the connection 704 goes through the swivel joint of which the shaft 602 is a part. Sliding connector rings or other known means could be used in such a solution. Other ways are possible, for example by using a loosely attached section of conductor wire that goes between the first and second parts, preferably in a suitably con- cealed location.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the invention may be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above, instead they may vary N within the scope of the clains.

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Claims (14)

1. Arrangement for producing haptic effects in a user device, comprising: - a first part of the user device, - a second part of the user device, which second part constitutes a hand-held body of the user device - a movable attachment between said first and second parts of the user device, for allowing a user of the user device to hold the second part by hand and move the first part in relation to the second part during use of the user device, and - a haptic transducer for producing haptic effects for said user during said use of the user device; characterized in that: - said first part comprises a first sub-part and a second sub-part, - said haptic transducer comprises a first half and a second half, and - said first half is attached to said first sub-part of the first part and said second half is attached to said second sub-part of the first part.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the haptic transducer comprises: - an arrangement of permanent magnets, of which at least a first permanent magnet is located in said first half and at least a second permanent magnet is 5 located in said second half, and < - at least one coil configured to create, under influ- 5 ence of an electric current flowing through said coil, o 30 dynamic magnetic forces in said haptic transducer. E 3. An arrangement according to claim 2, — wherein the second part of the user device comprises a = current source for feeding said electric current into N said at least one coil.

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4. An arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said movable attachment is a swivel joint, slide joint, or elastically deforming joint for allowing said user to utilize said first part as a trigger to be pulled by a finger of the same hand that holds the second part.

5. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, comprising: - a detector configured to produce a detection signal in response to the user applying to said first part a force for moving the first part in relation to the second part, - a controllable driver circuit for generating said electric current to said coil in response to a control signal, and - a controller coupled to said detector and to said driver circuit, said controller configured to produce said control signal in response to receiving said de- tection signal.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said detector and said haptic transducer are different elements.

7. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said haptic transducer is configured to also operate as said detector.

s | | AN 8. An arrangement according to claim 7, com- = prising an electric coupling between said coil and said controller for enabling said controller to detect r a current induced into said coil and to use such de- E 30 tected current as said detection signal.

O D 9. An arrangement according to any of the N preceding claims, wherein said first sub-part and said N second sub-part are coupled to each other through elastic suspension means for making the first sub-part move in relation to said second sub-part under influ- ence of the haptic effects produced by said haptic transducer.

10. An arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein said first sub-part and said second sub-part are coupled to each other through rigid sus- pension means for making the first sub-part undergo elastic deformations under influence of the haptic ef- fects produced by said haptic transducer.

11. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which: - the first permanent magnet and the second permanent magnet have similarly named magnetic poles facing each other in the permanent magnet arrangement, and - a magnetic repulsion between said similarly named magnetic poles pushes, in the absence of any inten- tional counteracting force caused by the user, the first sub-part into a released position away from the second sub-part.

12. A method for producing haptic effects in a user device, the method comprising: - responding to a detected predetermined way of a user using a user device that comprises a first part and a second part, of which the second part is a hand-held body of the user device and the first part is movably N attached to it, by making a current flow through a N coil of a haptic transducer, two halves of which are O attached to respective ones of two sub-parts of said 2 first a part of the user device, so that said current z 30 creates dynamic magnetic forces that together with * static magnetic forces created by permanent magnets of O said haptic transducer produce the desired haptic ef-

LO 3 fect.

13. A method according to claim 12, compris- ing: - detecting a predetermined movement of the first part of the user device in relation to the second part thereof, and - creating said current as a response to said detec- tion.

14. A method according to claim 13, compris- ing: - performing said detecting of a predetermined move- ment by detecting a current induced into said coil of the haptic transducer.

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