Touching the void: exploring virtual objects through a vibrotactile glove

This paper describes a simple low-cost approach to adding an element of haptic interaction within a virtual environment. Using off-the-shelf hardware and software we describe a simple setup that can be used to explore physically virtual objects in space. This setup comprises of a prototype glove wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Giannopoulos, Elias, Pomés Freixa, Ausiàs, Slater, Mel
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2012
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/53869
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/53869
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Realitat virtual
Percepció visual
Simulació per ordinador
Virtual reality
Visual perception
Computer simulation
Description
Summary:This paper describes a simple low-cost approach to adding an element of haptic interaction within a virtual environment. Using off-the-shelf hardware and software we describe a simple setup that can be used to explore physically virtual objects in space. This setup comprises of a prototype glove with a number of vibrating actuators to provide the haptic feedback, a Kinect camera for the tracking of the user's hand and a virtual reality development environment. As proof of concept and to test the efficiency of the system as well as its potential applications, we developed a simple application where we created 4 different shapes within a virtual environment in order to try to explore them and guess their shape through touch alone.