Network Architectures for Distributed Haptic Virtual Environments (HAPNet)

分布式触觉虚拟环境的网络架构 (HAPNet)

• 批准号: EP/E062350/1
• 负责人: Alan Marshall
• 金额: $ 45.57万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FE062350%2F1
• 关键词: Network; Architectures; Distributed; Haptic; Virtual

In this project we propose to investigate techniques that will allow an additional human sense, haptic touch (or reflected force), to be sent over the Internet. Today's telecommunications and computer networks have been designed to carry information that pertains to only two human senses: the auditory sense (for example sound and speech), and the visual sense (for example video, graphic, and text etc). The Internet is now being reengineered so that it can provide different levels of service for different types of traffic, e.g. to support the transport of voice over its IP protocol (VOIP). This has lead to the design of network architectures that can support different Quality of Service (QoS) levels. It is clear that introducing into networks the ability to carry information relating to other senses will open up an enormous potential for both new and dramatically improved applications. The ability to embed touch or force into applications and then distribute them across the Internet will have significant implications in areas such as collaborative design, immersive reality and teleconferencing, distance learning and training, virtual reality showrooms and museums. It is now also recognised that the introduction of a haptic component to interactive games has increased users' quality of experience, and this has in turn increased the market demand for these types of applications. It is also clear that the network service (i.e. QoS) needed to support other senses such as touch (haptics) will be significantly different from that which currently exists.Almost all haptic applications are designed whereby the haptic device is connected to a single stand-alone system, or where dedicated connections are used to provide remote interaction. Architecting the Internet to provide an acceptable service for distributed haptic applications therefore represents a significant challenge that this research aims to address. A related challenge is to design architectures that can scale to support the QoS required for the interaction of multiple haptic devices (or users).Recent research has shown that each type of network impairment affects the sense of force feedback in a particular way. Network delay can make the user feel a virtual object before it is visually in contact, or to move into solid objects. Delay also desynchronizes the different copies of the virtual environment. Jitter makes the user feel that the object's mass is variable. Packet loss can reduce the amount the force felt by the user. The effect of these impairments is to introduce unwanted artefacts into the virtual environment. However they also effect the interaction with the physical world and a more serious consequence is to cause damage to the haptic device, and in some situations may also cause physical damage to the end user. To date, the network has not been seriously considered in the design of haptic compensation algorithms. However the introduction of graded QoS architectures (e.g. Diffserv) into the next generation Internet now offers the capability to bound effects such as packet delay jitter and loss. These guarantees can be used to offer specific levels of tolerance (spatial and haptic) to different applications. Therefore a major contribution of the research will be to develop compensation techniques that consider the current level of service that the network can offer and map these against different types of haptic applications.A series of trials investigating the performance of the derived architectures and compensation algorithms will be conducted with the collaborators who represent key constituents in this technology area: BT (network operator, UK), LABEIN (haptic applications, Spain), HandshakeVR (haptics software, Canada), and Immersion (haptic device manufacturer, California). The results will provide valuable knowledge to the designers of future devices, DHVEs and to the designers of the networks that have to support them.

在这个项目中，我们建议研究允许通过互联网发送额外的人类感觉，触觉(或反射力)的技术。今天的电信和计算机网络被设计成只承载两种人类感官的信息：听觉(例如声音和语音)和视觉(例如视频、图形和文本等)。因特网现在正在被重新设计，以便它可以为不同类型的业务提供不同级别的服务，例如支持基于其IP协议的语音(VOIP)的传输。这导致了能够支持不同服务质量(Qos)级别的网络体系结构的设计。显然，将携带与其他感官相关的信息的能力引入网络将为新的和显著改进的应用打开巨大的潜力。将触摸或力嵌入应用程序，然后在互联网上分发它们的能力，将在协作设计、身临其境的现实和电话会议、远程学习和培训、虚拟现实展厅和博物馆等领域产生重大影响。现在人们也认识到，在互动游戏中引入触觉组件提高了用户的体验质量，这反过来又增加了对这些类型应用程序的市场需求。同样清楚的是，支持其他感官(如触觉)所需的网络服务(即Qos)将与当前存在的网络服务显著不同。几乎所有触觉应用程序都是通过将触觉设备连接到单个独立系统来设计的，或者使用专用连接来提供远程交互。因此，构建互联网，为分布式触觉应用提供可接受的服务，是本研究旨在解决的重大挑战。一个相关的挑战是设计能够扩展以支持多个触觉设备(或用户)交互所需的服务质量的架构。最近的研究表明，每种类型的网络损伤都以特定的方式影响力反馈的感觉。网络延迟可以使用户在视觉上接触到虚拟物体之前感觉到它，或者移动到固体物体中。延迟还会使虚拟环境的不同副本不同步。抖动使用户感觉到物体的质量是可变的。丢包可以减少用户感受到的力的大小。这些损伤的影响是将不想要的人工制品引入虚拟环境。然而，它们也会影响与物理世界的互动，更严重的后果是对触觉设备造成损害，在某些情况下还可能对最终用户造成物理损害。到目前为止，在触觉补偿算法的设计中还没有认真考虑网络。然而，在下一代互联网中引入分级的服务质量体系结构(如DiffServ)，现在提供了限制分组延迟、抖动和丢失等影响的能力。这些保证可用于为不同的应用提供特定水平的容忍度(空间和触觉)。因此，这项研究的主要贡献将是开发补偿技术，考虑网络可以提供的当前服务水平，并将这些技术与不同类型的触觉应用相对应。将与代表该技术领域关键组成部分的合作者进行一系列试验，调查派生的架构和补偿算法的性能：BT(英国网络运营商)、LABEIN(触觉应用，西班牙)、HandshakeVR(触觉软件，加拿大)和Immersion(触觉设备制造商，加利福尼亚州)。研究结果将为未来设备、DHVE的设计者以及必须支持它们的网络设计者提供有价值的知识。

项目成果

Simultaneous remote haptic collaboration for assembling tasks

用于组装任务的同步远程触觉协作

• DOI: 10.1007/s00530-007-0108-7
• 发表时间: 2007
• 期刊: Multimedia Systems
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Iglesias R

Network Control and Engineering for QoS, Security and Mobility, IV

QoS、安全性和移动性的网络控制和工程，IV

• DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-49690-0_24
• 发表时间: 2007
• 作者: Yap K

3D Smart User Interactive System with Real-Time Responding Tele-Robotic Proprioceptive Information

具有实时响应远程机器人本体信息的 3D 智能用户交互系统

• DOI: 10.1109/isms.2013.90
• 发表时间: 2013
• 作者: Tiam Hee Tee

An empirical model for multi-contact point haptic network traffic

多接触点触觉网络流量的经验模型

• 发表时间: 2009
• 作者: Mamun Abu-Tair

Providing QoS for Networked Peers in Distributed Haptic Virtual Environments

• DOI: 10.1155/2008/841590
• 发表时间: 2008-10
• 期刊: Adv. Multim.
• 作者: A. Marshall;K. Yap;Wai Yu