HCC: Medium: Collaborative Research: Haptic Display of Terrain Characteristics and its Application in Virtual and Physical Worlds

在本研究中，pi的目标是在一个沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）运动界面中真实地显示地形，基于脚/地形交互的修改，加上地形的图形和听觉显示以及用户交互。项目成果将包括新颖的“智能鞋”技术，该技术能够感知和修改穿着者在每一步所感知的地形，从而可以主动控制地形坡度、表面刚度、高度变化、滑移和平衡。该方法是基于一个具有方向顺应结构的仪表鞋底，使用可控制的膀胱和嵌入式传感器来调节用户行走时的地形效果。鞋子的设计和控制将基于动态生物力学和地形相互作用模型。受试者数据将为系统的设计、验证和确认提供基线。机器人测试平台将在受试者评估之前验证鞋子的响应特性。这项工作的平台将是现有的TreadPort主动风洞（TPAWT），它能够真实地显示不同斜坡上的运动环境，并提供可控的风、热和气味显示。TPAWT的洞穴状显示器将转换为具有无缝地板投影的三维立体图形系统，以呈现局部地形特征，如形状、高度变化和表面纹理。将考虑图形和物理工件的组合表示，解释和协调，以创建身临其境和逼真的运动体验，最终目标是实现实际应用。这个组合系统被称为TPAWT地形显示系统（TPAWT- tds）。这项新技术的目标测试群体将是帕金森病（PD）患者，对于他们来说，VR训练已经在改善步态特征和减少跌倒可能性方面显示出一些有希望的结果。PD患者的调查数据将激励具体地形的选择。普通用户和PD用户将首先在地形的物理模型上进行评估，然后在VR环境的后续试验中进行重建和评估。一旦验证，VR地形显示器将用于PD训练。用户将再次在物理模型上进行评估，以评估步态和平衡性能，这也将与未经训练的受试者进行比较。更广泛的影响：在这个项目中创建的“智能鞋”技术将允许探索新的复杂方法，将3D图形地形线索与新颖的VR界面中主动变化的物理地形相结合。由此产生的环境将有无数潜在的应用，作为康复和训练工具，其中最重要的是改善运动和预防跌倒（因为跌倒是当今最昂贵的伤害形式）。新技术的开发将与严格的人体参与者研究相结合。研究成果将通过网站和主要会议传播，并整合到机器人，虚拟现实，人体工程学和物理治疗课程中。

The PIs' goal in this research is to realistically display terrain in an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) locomotion interface, based upon modification of the foot/terrain interaction coupled with graphical and auditory display of the terrain and user interaction. Project outcomes will include novel "smart shoe" technology capable of sensing and modifying the terrain perceived by the wearer at each step so that terrain slope, surface stiffness, height variations, slip and balance can be actively controlled. The approach is based upon an instrumented shoe sole with a directionally compliant structure using controllable bladders and embedded sensors to regulate terrain effects as the user walks. The design and control of the shoe will be based upon dynamic biomechanical and terrain interaction models. Subject data will provide a baseline for design, verification, and validation of the system. A robotic test-bed will validate shoe response characteristics prior to subject evaluations.The platform for this work will be the existing TreadPort Active Wind Tunnel (TPAWT), which is capable of realistically displaying locomotion environments on varying slopes as well as providing controllable wind, heat, and odor display. The cave-like display of the TPAWT will be converted to a three dimensional stereo graphics system with seamless floor projection in order to present local terrain features such as shape, height variations, and surface texture. Combined representation, interpretation, and coordination of the graphical and physical artifacts will be considered with the aim of creating an immersive and realistic locomotion experience with the end goal of achieving practical application. This combined system is termed the TPAWT Terrain Display System (TPAWT-TDS).The target test group for the new technology will be patients with Parkinson's Disease, (PD), for whom VR training has already shown some promising results for improving gait characteristics and reducing the likelihood of falls. Survey data from PD patients will motivate selection of the specific terrain. Regular and PD users will first be evaluated on physical mockups of the terrain, which will then be recreated and evaluated in follow-up trials in the VR environment. Once validated, the VR terrain display will be used for PD training. Users will again be evaluated on the physical mockups to evaluate gait and balance performance, which will also be compared to untrained subjects.Broader Impacts: The "smart shoe" technology to be created in this project will allow exploration of new and sophisticated methods for combining 3D graphical terrain cues with an actively changing physical terrain in a novel VR interface. The resulting environment will have myriad potential applications as a rehabilitation and training tool, not the least of which is improved locomotion and fall prevention (since falls are the single most costly form of injury today). Development of the new technology will be combined with rigorous human participant studies. Research findings will be disseminated via websites and at major conferences, and also integrated into the robotics, virtual reality, ergonomics, and physical therapy curricula.