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

PI在这项研究中的目标是真实地显示地形在沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）运动界面，根据修改的脚/地形的交互，再加上图形和听觉显示的地形和用户交互。 项目成果将包括新颖的“智能鞋”技术，能够感知和修改穿着者在每一步所感知的地形，以便主动控制地形坡度、表面硬度、高度变化、滑动和平衡。 该方法是基于一个仪表化的鞋底与方向顺应性的结构，使用可控的囊和嵌入式传感器，以调节地形的影响，因为用户走。 鞋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。 机器人测试台将在受试者评估之前验证鞋的响应特性。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坡度上的运动环境，并提供可控的风，热和气味显示。 TPAWT的洞穴状显示将转换为具有无缝地面投影的三维立体图形系统，以呈现局部地形特征，例如形状，高度变化和表面纹理。 图形和物理工件的组合表示，解释和协调将被考虑，目的是创建一个身临其境的和现实的运动体验，最终目标是实现实际应用。这种组合系统被称为TPAWT地形显示系统（TPAWT-TDS）。新技术的目标测试组将是帕金森病（PD）患者，VR训练已经显示出改善步态特征和减少福尔斯可能性的一些有希望的结果。 来自PD患者的调查数据将激励特定地形的选择。 常规和PD用户将首先在地形的物理模型上进行评估，然后在VR环境中进行后续试验和评估。 一旦验证，VR地形显示器将用于PD培训。 用户将再次在实体模型上进行评估，以评估步态和平衡性能，并与未经训练的受试者进行比较。更广泛的影响：该项目中创建的“智能鞋”技术将允许探索新的和复杂的方法，将3D图形地形提示与新颖的VR界面中主动变化的物理地形相结合。 由此产生的环境将具有作为康复和训练工具的无数潜在应用，其中最重要的是改善运动和跌倒预防（因为福尔斯是当今最昂贵的伤害形式）。 新技术的开发将与严格的人类参与研究相结合。 研究结果将通过网站和主要会议传播，并纳入机器人技术，虚拟现实，人体工程学和物理治疗课程。

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.