VibroWeight: Simulating Weight and Center of Gravity Changes of Objects in Virtual Reality for Enhanced Realism
PubDate: Jan 2022
Teams: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology；Birmingham City University； Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology；Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Writers: Xian Wang, Diego Monteiro, Lik-Hang Lee, Pan Hui, Hai-Ning Liang
Abstract
Haptic feedback in virtual reality (VR) allows users to perceive the physical properties of virtual objects (e.g., their weight and motion patterns). However, the lack of haptic sensations deteriorates users’ immersion and overall experience. In this work, we designed and implemented a low-cost hardware prototype with liquid metal, VibroWeight, which can work in complementarity with commercial VR handheld controllers. VibroWeight is characterized by bimodal feedback cues in VR, driven by adaptive absolute mass (weights) and gravity shift. To our knowledge, liquid metal is used in a VR haptic device for the first time. Our 29 participants show that VibroWeight delivers significantly better VR experiences in realism and comfort.
