SGER: Optimizing skin stretch for localized haptic display

在多用户计算机辅助的协作活动或训练中改善人们的体验，使他们彼此之间以及与他们的虚拟环境的交互几乎逼真，这将需要比目前可用的更好的触觉（力和触摸）反馈技术。 特别地，当用户组自由移动而不是坐在桌面显示器前时，几乎没有什么可用于提供人与人和人与世界的触摸反馈。 可以使用紧凑的振动反馈设备，尽管用户在运动时感知高频振动的能力可能受到影响。 激活人体皮肤中的触摸传感器的另一种方法是应用分布式皮肤刺激物或皮肤拉伸，但对其对身体的影响知之甚少，或者它是否可以用作身体安装的触觉显示器。 PI在本项目中的目标就是探索这些问题。 特别是，他将研究分布式皮肤拉伸和振动反馈的影响，这些反馈是通过重量轻、功耗低的“触觉器”来实现的，这些触觉器可以安装/佩戴在人体的各个位置。 PI将进行实验，以量化皮肤拉伸与久坐和快速移动用户的振动反馈相比的影响，并将对身体穿戴式触觉器在物理康复环境中的影响进行初步调查，以期改善患者在从受伤或中风中恢复时经常需要的运动训练练习。 这些实验的结果将提供一个如何最好地利用皮肤拉伸和振动显示在虚拟环境中，在人与人的互动，也将指导进一步tactor开发的第一个指标。更广泛的影响：相比，视觉和声音，触觉反馈是一个欠发达的渠道。 PI将在本项目中调查的新技术有望在许多不同领域彻底改变人机交互和计算机介导的人机交互，其中最重要的是及时的应用程序，如应急人员的培训演习和地理分布团队之间的协作努力，以制定应急程序。

Improving the experiences of people in multi-user computer assisted collaborative activities or training to the extent that their interactions with each other and with their virtual environments are almost lifelike will requires much better haptic (force and touch) feedback technology than is currently available. In particular, little is available to provide human-human and human-world touch feedback when groups of users are moving freely, rather than seated at desktop displays. Compact vibration feedback devices could be used, notwithstanding that the user's ability while in motion to perceive high-frequency vibration is likely to suffer. An alternative method of activating the touch sensors in human skin is to apply distributed cutaneous stimulants, or skin stretch, but little is known about its effects on the body, or if it can be used as a body-mounted haptic display. The PI's goal in this project is to explore such issues. In particular, he will investigate the effects of both distributed skin-stretch and vibration feedback applied by means of light-weight, low-power "tactors" that can be mounted/worn at various locations on a person's body. The PI will conduct experiments to quantify the effects of skin-stretch in comparison to vibration feedback for both sedentary and rapidly moving users, and will conduct preliminary investigations of the effects of body worn tactors in a physical rehabilitation environment, in the hope of improving motion training exercises which patients often require when recovering from injuries or strokes. The results of these experiments will provide a first indication of how best to utilize skin-stretch and vibration displays in virtual environments and in human-human interactions, and will also guide further tactor development.Broader Impacts: In comparison to vision and sound, haptic feedback is an underdeveloped channel. New technologies such as those the PI will investigate in this project promise to revolutionize human-computer interaction and computer-mediated human-human interaction in a host of diverse domains, not the least of which are timely applications such as training exercises for emergency personnel and collaborative efforts among geographically distributed teams to develop emergency procedures.