Ubiquitous Haptics

拟议的研究计划探索无处不在的触觉的概念。随着可穿戴计算、物联网和无处不在的计算获得发展势头，我预计我们和我们周围的触觉设备的可用性都会越来越高。我建议探索使用触觉反馈来增强新兴互动系统的用户体验，因为触觉能力因此成为我们佩戴和周围物体不可或缺但看不见的部分。我把这一概念称为无处不在的触觉，类似于无处不在计算的承诺，即让计算始终可用，但在很大程度上是不可见的。 这项研究计划围绕三个轴心展开。第一个轴探索事物的触觉，或我们周围物体的触觉。例如，这个轴探索了如何将手持设备和我们周围的日常物品的被动表面触觉起来。第二个轴探索具体化触觉，即在用户身体上使用触觉反馈。例如，这个轴探索了在可穿戴触觉设备被带入交互环境中时使用它的机会主义，例如VR模拟器中的智能手表。第三个轴探索触觉交响乐，即由我们和我们周围的多个设备产生的触觉反馈的协调，以实现更丰富的触觉体验。例如，这个轴探索使用流动或同步的触觉来使数字交易和连接变得有形。 本研究计划从两个互补的角度进行研究。第一个视角研究了支持这三个研究轴的触觉硬件的设计，重点是电振动，这是一项很有前途的技术，在可穿戴设备和连接对象的背景下受到的关注有限。第二个视角调查了用户体验的设计，这些用户体验举例说明了事物的触觉、体现的触觉和触觉交响乐的概念。 这项工作的重点是启用和原型新的触觉体验，并使用定量和定性的用户研究技术对其进行实验评估。这项研究计划将证明触觉反馈在当前和未来的交互系统中扮演着重要的角色，并将为交互系统的设计提供信息，利用我们和我们周围的触觉设备的可用性。这一研究计划将确立加拿大在触觉技术方面的领先地位，并产生该主题的本地专业知识，这一主题越来越被认为是虚拟现实和其他互动体验成功的关键。这项研究的结果还将影响加拿大老牌和新兴行业的高科技行业，如视频游戏、增强/虚拟现实(AR/VR)、可穿戴设备和物联网(IoT)。

The proposed research program explores the concept of ubiquitous haptics. As wearable computing, the Internet of Things, and ubiquitous computing gain momentum, I foresee an increasing availability of haptic devices both on us and around us. I propose to explore the use of haptic feedback to enhance the user experience of emerging interactive systems as haptic capabilities thus become an integral but invisible part of the objects that we wear and those that surround us. I call this concept ubiquitous haptics, by analogy with ubiquitous computing's promise to make computing constantly accessible yet largely invisible. This research program is structured around three axes. The first axis explores the haptics of things, or the haptification of the objects that surround us. This axis for example explores haptifying the otherwise passive surfaces of handheld devices and everyday objects that surround us. The second axis explores embodied haptics, or the use of haptic feedback on the user's body. This axis for example explores opportunistically using a wearable haptic device as it is brought into an interactive context, e.g. a smartwatch in a VR simulator. The third axis explores the haptic symphony, or the coordination of the haptic feedback produced by multiple devices on us and around us to enable richer haptic experiences. This axis for example explores using a tactile sensation of flow or synchronization to make digital transactions and connections tangible. This research program is approached from two complementary perspectives. The first perspective investigates the design of haptic hardware in support of the three research axes, with emphasis on electrovibration, a promising technology that has received limited attention in the context of wearable devices and connected objects. The second perspective investigates the design of user experiences that exemplify the concepts of the haptics of things, embodied haptics, and the haptic symphony. The focus of this work is on enabling and prototyping novel haptic experiences and experimentally evaluating them using quantitative and qualitative user research techniques. This research program will demonstrate that haptic feedback has a significant role to play in current and future interactive systems, and will inform the design of interactive systems that leverage the availability of haptic devices on us and around us. This research program will establish Canada as a leader in haptic technologies and generate local expertise in the topic, which is increasingly recognized as critical to the success of virtual reality and other interactive experiences. The findings of this research will moreover impact Canada's high-technology sector in established and emerging industries such as video games, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), wearable devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT).