A new device developed at Carnegie Mellon University lets you feel obstacles and objects when you are in a virtual reality experience. They use multiple strings attached to the hand and fingers to simulate the feel of obstacles and heavy objects. This brings us closer to a real Star Trek holodeck experience.
By locking the strings when the user’s hand is near a virtual wall, for instance, the device simulates the sense of touching the wall. Similarly, the string mechanism enables people to feel the contours of a virtual sculpture, sense resistance when they push on a piece of furniture or even give a high five to a virtual character.
Cathy Fang, who will graduate from CMU next month with a joint degree in mechanical engineering and human-computer interaction, said the shoulder-mounted device takes advantage of spring-loaded strings to reduce weight, consume less battery power and keep costs low.
“Elements such as walls, furniture and virtual characters are key to building immersive virtual worlds, and yet contemporary VR systems do little more than vibrate hand controllers,” said Chris Harrison, assistant professor in CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). User evaluation of the multistring device, as reported by co-authors Harrison, Fang, Robotics Institute engineer Matthew Dworman and HCII doctoral student Yang Zhang, found it was more realistic than other haptic techniques.
“I think the experience creates surprises, such as when you interact with a railing and can wrap your fingers around it,” Fang said. “It’s also fun to explore the feel of irregular objects, such as a statue.”
SOURCES- Carnegie Mellon University
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
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I think so sort of tactile feed back would be a good idea. This is kind of a start to explore the concept. I would think some sort of tactile suit would be the finished product.
Probably difficult to do for $35 (which I assume includes zero of the labour costs to assemble such a thing)
for April’s fool?
me of
i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/00/ee/7c00eecf99a1fe96a7b686e5fef4d96b.jpg
It would be better to have a glove/sleeve like device with fibers that locks, tightens and loosens
I assumed the body pillows were themselves just simulating a more difficult to source option.
I’m not entirely certain that’s a terrible idea. There are some movies where that happens, and… oh. Oh, wait. Yeah.
Still, put me on that waiting list. xD
Or, can it simulate those body pillows some people are marrying?
You haven’t heard the term “face pillows”?
Shirt puppies. Face pillows. Chest potatoes.
Found the connoisseur knowing what sells.
LOL. “Pillows” being a euphemism?
The big question is can it simulate soft objects, like a pillow, or like two pillows?
It can kind of work, until you turn it into a cat’s cradle.
Yeah. Another cumbersome invention in the long list of cumbersome inventions related to VR.
Currently the lead on VR innovation is the Oculus Quest, which allows hand gesture control using the cameras, and it’s not that bad, but certainly, no haptic feedback.
VR true golden age would come when they can insert detailed perceptions into people’s brains. But that certainly is a dangerous path to trail.
Can we all just admit that this idea is really bad and pretend this never happened.
Of all the ways to go, self-strangled by piano wire. Maybe the beat-saber add on was a bad idea.