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

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创建一套消费硬件和软件产品，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、媒体和彼此交互的方式。由于它们目前仅限于视觉和音频，因此赋予消费级人机界面高保真触觉反馈将大大提高用户沉浸感，使游戏更有趣，在线交互更有效，工具更高效。因此，该项目有可能扩大新兴VR/AR市场的商业范围，为游戏、娱乐和电子商务领域的公司开辟无数机会。该项目的创新还有望通过建立一种新的范式来增强对触觉人机交互的科学和技术理解，这种范式将最小的可穿戴硬件与复杂的软件算法相结合。最后，将新颖的交互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、工程和数学的关键领域从事职业。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中触摸物体提供逼真的触觉反馈：该项目？的智力价值集中在测试一种新的方法，结合了最小的触觉硬件和复杂的软件算法。研究的目标是创建一个功能齐全的工业原型的可穿戴指尖顶针和定制软件，体现所提出的方法。当用户的手指移动以触摸虚拟对象时，顶针内的平台将发起与指垫的接触，并以随穿透距离而变化的力按压，以呈现表面柔软度。一个热致动器将传送物体？的导热系数和温度。当手指沿着虚拟对象滑动时，用户将通过精心设计的平台振动来感受其纹理。要解决的具体研究任务包括探索触觉致动器选项，建立一个库的触觉对象属性（HOPs），可以应用于虚拟对象，并创建一个通信协议，用于交换设备之间的触觉信号。该项目预计将产生一个功能齐全的工业原型和开发工具包的可穿戴指尖顶针。

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.