1. A planar reciprocating actuator comprising: a housing; a motional component comprising at least one linear magnet array in said housing attached to said housing by at least one spring, and a stator component parallel to and separated from said motional component by an air gap, said stator component comprising at least one planar coil racetrack winding and an in-field magnetically permeable element located substantially in the center of and substantially coplanar with said planar coil racetrack winding and constituting the only magnetically permeable component in said stator component, wherein when an alternating current is passed through said planar coil racetrack winding, said planar coil racetrack winding and said in-field magnetically permeable element interact with said magnet array to produce relative reciprocating motion of said motional component to generate a vibrotactile stimulus to a user.