Wearables for Texture Display

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Virtual reality headsets provide rich visual and auditory stimuli, but little haptic feedback besides rudimentary effects through handheld controllers.

 

Recent interest has turned towards low-profile wearable devices that can provide on-demand haptic stimulation to the body during AR and VR interactions, without limiting dexterity or range of motion.

 

We are interested in developing wearables that provide vibration-based sensations conveying the texture and material properties of different VR objects while optimizing actuator type, control, and placement.

 

To create a vibration-based texture sensation, we need to mimic the vibrations induced in the skin during texture exploration. The characteristics of this vibration depend on the texture and – more importantly – on our sliding speed.

 

The lack of such complex sensations in AR and VR leaves virtual reality interactions unnatural and inanimate. Currently, we are exploring the possibility of developing a wearable device that can create intuitive and convincing illusions of texture perception by: -

 

• Leveraging our understanding of touch perception,

• Finding ways to create a wide range of sensations with frequency and amplitude modulation schemes,

• Integrating hand tracking with the device to make the sensation responsive to the user’s movement.