Small continuously vibrating object required

[SonicHedgeHog]

WTF!? I hear you all say. All will make sense.

A Microsoft employee has developed a wrist watch that vibrates for a friend who has Parkinson’s Disease. The watch’s vibration interrupts the tremors caused by the disease and effectively disturbs the feedback loop between the vibrating muscles and the brain. This in turn reduces the tremors.

The watch is not available for sale but I would like to try and make one for my father in law for Christmas. The problem is I’m not an electronic engineer and so need to buy off the shelf components.

So, can anyone recommend a watch sized object object I could attach a strap or band to that might do the job? The best thought I had was something from a sex toy, but I need to be careful as my father in law may get into trouble if he has a vibrating dildo permanently attached to his wrist.

If the size is an issue I was thinking that something that fits in an armband designed for iPods might work. The kind of thing people use in the gym.

Anyway, anyone got any bright ideas?

[SonicHedgeHog]

That was fast! Not a bad idea at all. Perhaps get one with a vibrating alarm that buzzes continuously? Good idea

[SonicHedgeHog]

TooLateForAName said:

Interesting.

Does the existing device run continuously or does it detect tremors and run when things get bad?

Not sure. I guess it depends on how bad the tremors are. Some people would need it running all the time. My father in law’s symptoms aren’t too bad so he can control the tremors by flexing his fingers. At this initial stage I just want to test if by wearing a constantly vibrating device he can reduce or stop the tremors. If so I can then add another component to my device that detects the tremors and activate the vibrator. While I can’t make something as swish as Microsoft’s Emma Watch I should be able to replicate the effect.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/p...

I’ve ordered several different motors as recommended above. Only a few quid from China. Still very interested in other ideas though.

[SonicHedgeHog]

rich350z said:

My daughter has some small toys called Num Noms they are round and are about 50mm in diameter. They have small batteries in them and vibrate. You could use the mechanism to do what you are describing.

Do they look like modern day Weebles? Had a quick look at can’t find any mention of them vibrating. Got any further info? Can you tell I don’t have kids?

[SonicHedgeHog]

4Q said:

Electric toothbrush or a Gillette fusion razor without the blade on?

Clever idea. The Gillette runs on AAAs so I could get a batch of rechargeables to keep the running cost down. 👍

[SonicHedgeHog]

Andrew_S said:

Are you searching for something like this:

https://feeldoppel.com/

That looks really good. Especially the feature that allows the vibrations to be adjusted. Also considerably more user friendly that the pneumatic drill connected to a milk float battery design I was working on. Bit pricy but worth a go.

[SonicHedgeHog]

Andrew_S said:

Are you searching for something like this:

https://feeldoppel.com/

That looks really good. Especially the feature that allows the vibrations to be adjusted. Also considerably more user friendly that the pneumatic drill connected to a milk float battery design I was working on. Bit pricy but worth a go.

[SonicHedgeHog]

These are all really good ideas. I’m starting at the lowest price point and working up, but I reckon one of these must work. There is such a variety of vibrations that one of them must work. Once I find the right frequency I can work on making it more user friendly if necessary.