A New Interactive Haptic Device for Getting Physical Contact Feeling of Virtual Objects

PubDate: August 2019

Teams: Ritsumeikan Daigaku

Writers: Keishirou Kataoka; Takuya Yamamoto; Mai Otsuki; Fumihisa Shibata; Asako Kimura

PDF: A New Interactive Haptic Device for Getting Physical Contact Feeling of Virtual Objects

Abstract

The emergence of new and inexpensive virtual reality (VR) technology has made it relatively familiar to most users. We can create virtual 3D objects and paint on them in a VR spaces. Many of the VR controllers used for such operations provide haptic feedbacks by vibration when the user touches the virtual objects. In the real world, we can perceive not only the touch sensation but also the reaction force when touching and stroking the object’s surface. However, it is impossible to provide a reaction force only with the vibration feedback. That is, there is a sensory gap between the VR space and the real world. The gap makes it difficult to work in the VR space in a manner similar to that in the real world. In this study, we focused on providing the reaction force from the virtual object to the user, and proposed a device that could provide the force feedback to the user’s arm without connecting the device to large equipment.