Real Virtuality: making the virtual, physical

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Screens and speakers can provide a kind of embodiment for virtual 'objects'. While these are effective at providing a sense of the object, they stop short of providing embodiment in the remaining senses: touch, smell, and taste. n this project, we examine the use of robotics technology to simulate the physical presence of a virtual object. When the "viewer" reaches out to touch the object in question, the system calculates the point of intersection of the user's finger and the virtual object, and places a robotic arm at that point. Modulation of temperature, texture, and position are able to simulate a variety of physical objects. This has the potential to transform the way in which physical objects are designed and produced. Today, the design process of manufactured goods is a series iterations beginning with construction of a 3D model in Autodesk's software, then the fabrication of prototypes to be evaluated and improved upon. This is costly, time consuming, wasteful, and not environmentally sensitive. Instead, we propose to enable design teams to physically interact with a digital creation. They can simply reach-out and touch it, feel its edges, its contours, and its subtle design elements.