Seungjae Oh

Haptic Feedback+Motion

Vibrotactile Metaphor of Physical Interaction Using Body-Penetrating Phantom Sensations: Stepping on a Virtual Object
(IEEE World Haptics 2021)

Teaser

Abstract

During locomotion, people perceive rich haptic information from the floor and object in contact with their feet. Conventional simulation of such physical interaction in virtual reality is mostly limited to expressing the material or texture of the floor by stimulating only the sole of a foot using vibrotactile stimuli.

This paper presents a vibrotactile metaphor that mimics the physical interaction of stepping on a virtual object using body-penetrating phantom sensations between the sole and the instep. For both passive and active perception, we compare the effectiveness between the penetrating illusion and the single stimulation on the sole, with and without visual feedback.

Experimental results show that our vibrotactile metaphor is effective for passive perception and less effective when there is active user movement. Our discovery enriches virtual tactile experiences that can be felt with the feet.

Publication

  • Dajin Lee, Seungjae Oh, and Seungmoon Choi.
    Vibrotactile Metaphor of Physical Interaction Using Body-Penetrating Phantom Sensations: Stepping on a Virtual Object
    IEEE World Haptics 2021

Figure

SignalProfile Vibration profiles coupled with the user-applied pressure for active haptic feedback.

PassiveResults Results of Passive Haptic Feedback. We asked participants that the tactile sensation feels as if the virtual object moved into and out of the foot.
(H: Haptic Only; V+H: Visual+Haptic) & (S: Sole Only; S+I: Sole+Instep)

ActiveResults Results of Active Haptic Feedback.

Conclusion

Vibrotactile feedback is suitable for delivering surface characteristics but has been behind force feedback in delivering volumetric characteristics. One of the main goals in haptics research is to overcome the trade-off between the amount and quality of haptic information transmission and the complexity of haptic interfaces. Vibrotactile metaphors have potential for substituting the haptic information delivered conventionally by force feedback using considerably

Contribution

  • Dajin Lee: Idea, Implementation (HW&SW), Experimental Design & Analysis
  • Seungjae Oh: Idea, Experimental Design
  • Seungmoon Choi: Director