Pneumatically controlled haptic mechanisms with curling internal structures for haptic feedback

A wearable device for creating haptic stimulations, comprising:

• a garment configured to be worn on a portion of a wearer's body;
• and
• one or more pods coupled to the garment, each pod including:
• (i) an internal structure including an arrangement of a plurality of protrusions;
• and
• (ii) an airtight bladder surrounding the internal structure, wherein the bladder is pneumatically coupled to a pneumatic device that is configured to control a pressurized state of the bladder,
• wherein the internal structure in each pod is configured to:
• (i) when the respective bladder of the respective pod is in a first pressurized state, have a first degree of flexibility;
• and
• (ii) when the respective bladder of the respective pod is in a second pressurized state different from the first pressurized state:
• curve, at least partially, in a predetermined direction;
• and
• have a second degree of flexibility less than the first degree of flexibility, thereby providing a haptic stimulation to a wearer of the garment when the respective bladder is in the second pressurized state.

A system for creating haptic stimulations, comprising:

• a computing device;
• a pneumatic device in communication with the computing device;
• a wearable device in communication with the computing device, comprising:
• one or more pods coupled to a garment of the wearable device, each pod including:
• (i) an internal structure including an arrangement of a plurality of protrusions;
• and
• (ii) an airtight bladder surrounding the internal structure, wherein the bladder is pneumatically coupled to a pneumatic device that is configured to control a pressurized state of the bladder,
• wherein the internal structure in each pod is configured to:
• (i) when the respective bladder of the respective pod is in a first pressurized state, have a first degree of flexibility;
• and
• (ii) when the respective bladder of the respective pod is in a second pressurized state different from the first pressurized state:
• curve, at least partially, in a predetermined direction;
• and
• have a second degree of flexibility less than the first degree of flexibility, thereby providing a haptic stimulation to a wearer of the garment when the respective bladder is in the second pressurized state.