Biofeedback Interactive VR System Using Biological Information Measurement HMD

PubDate: November 2019

Teams: The University of Tokyo

Writers: Masahiro Inazawa；Xianyin Hu；Yuki Ban

PDF: Biofeedback Interactive VR System Using Biological Information Measurement HMD

Abstract

By quantifying an user’s emotions during a virtual reality (VR) experience, we can interactively change the content of VR based on the user’s state of being. To quantify these emotions, the measurement of certain biological indices is necessary. The existing technology currently being used to gather different biological information is faced with challenges, such as user load of mounting sensors that the user needs to wear, and a noisy output arising from the user’s body movements. In this paper, we present the development of a biological information measuring device that can be easily attached onto a head mounted display (HMD). As the proposed device allows for the HMD to be strongly attached to the face, it is believed to be robust to body movements, and consequently, the mounting load of the sensor also becomes negligible. To easily attach the sensing device to the existing HMD, a pulse wave sensor and a respiratory sensor were integrated on the nose. The pulse wave was measured from an optical pulse wave sensor, and the respiration from a thermopile. Experiments were conducted to verify that these measurements were sufficiently accurate for the estimation of the user’s tension and excitement. This research therefore highlights the possibility that emotions can be quantified using only an HMD during a VR experience. Using the proposed device, we also presented a biofeedback interactive VR system.