SBIR Phase II: Touch and Feel a Virtual Object with Life-like Realism

该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是创建一套消费者硬件和软件产品，为在虚拟现实（VR）和增强现实（AR）中触摸物体的用户提供逼真的触觉反馈。正如目前低成本头戴式显示器和运动跟踪系统的激增所证明的那样，三维交互技术正在彻底改变人们与计算机、媒体以及彼此之间的交互方式。由于它们目前仅限于视觉和音频，因此赋予消费者级人机界面高保真触觉反馈将极大地增加用户沉浸感，使游戏更有趣，在线互动更有效，工具更高效。因此，这个项目有可能扩大新兴的VR/AR市场的商业范围，为公司开辟无数的机会，特别是在游戏，娱乐和电子商务领域。该项目的创新还承诺通过建立一种新的范例，将最小的可穿戴硬件与复杂的软件算法相结合，增强对触觉人机交互的科学和技术理解。最后，将新颖的互动技术商业化也有可能帮助激励各种各样的年轻人在科学、技术、工程和数学等关键领域从事职业。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在推进低成本技术的知识，该技术可以为用户在VR或AR中触摸物体提供真实的触觉反馈。他的智力优势在于测试一种结合了最小触觉硬件和复杂软件算法的新方法。研究目标是创建一个全功能的工业原型可穿戴指尖顶针和定制软件，体现所提出的方法。当用户的手指移动到虚拟物体时，顶针内的一个平台会与指垫接触，并随着插入距离的不同而施加不同的力，以使表面柔软。热致动器会传送物体吗？S导热系数与温度。当手指在虚拟物体上滑动时，用户将通过精心设计的平台振动感受到物体的纹理。具体的研究任务包括探索触觉执行器选项，建立可应用于虚拟物体的触觉对象属性库，以及创建用于在设备之间交换触觉信号的通信协议。该项目预计将产生一个功能齐全的工业原型和可穿戴指尖顶针的开发工具包。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to create a suite of consumer hardware and software products that provide realistic tactile feedback to users who are touching objects in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). As evidenced by the current proliferation of low-cost head-mounted displays and motion tracking systems, three-dimensional interaction technologies are revolutionizing how people interact with computers, media, and each other. Since they are currently limited to vision and audio, endowing consumer-level human-computer interfaces with high-fidelity tactile feedback will vastly increase user immersion, making games more fun, online interactions more effective, and tools more efficient. Consequently, this project has the potential to expand the commercial reach of the burgeoning VR/AR market, opening up myriad opportunities for companies particularly in the gaming, entertainment, and e-commerce sectors. The innovation of this project also promises to enhance scientific and technological understanding of haptic human-computer interaction by establishing a new paradigm that blends minimal wearable hardware with sophisticated software algorithms. Finally, commercializing novel interactive technology also has the potential to help inspire a diverse array of young people to pursue a career in the critical areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 project aims to advance knowledge of low-cost technology that can provide realistic tactile feedback to a user touching objects in VR or AR: the project?s intellectual merits center on testing a new approach that combines minimal haptic hardware and sophisticated software algorithms. The research objective is to create a fully functional industrial prototype of a wearable fingertip thimble and custom software that embody the proposed approach. When the user's finger moves to touch a virtual object, a platform inside the thimble will initiate contact with the fingerpad and press with a force that varies with penetration distance, to render surface softness. A thermal actuator will convey the object?s thermal conductivity and temperature. When the finger slides along a virtual object, the user will feel its texture via carefully designed platform vibrations. Specific research tasks to be addressed include exploring haptic actuator options, building a library of haptic object properties (HOPs) that can be applied to virtual objects, and creating a communication protocol for exchanging haptic signals among devices. This project is expected to yield a fully functional industrial prototype and developer kits for the wearable fingertip thimble.