U-brella: A portable umbrella-shaped device for vibrationizing information

We propose a portable umbrella-shaped device called U-brella as an application of “vibrationizing” information. Vibrationizing is a term coined to mean the transformation of various types of information into a vibration. Funbrella is an earlier version of U-brella that allows users to experience rain with vibrations, while U-brella offers them the ability to feel ultraviolet rays by converting them into vibration. We first conceptualized the implementation of U-brella: improving the mechanism of Funbrella's vibration generator to make it lighter and easier to carry. Then we conducted a user study to confirm the efficiency of our system's vibrationizing and users' impressions of U-brella. The results showed that the participants easily perceived the amount of ultraviolet rays and that they really felt the rays pour down upon their heads with U-brella.