CHS: Small: Creating a VR Workspace for Design by Physical Manipulation

从很小的时候起，人类就学会用手和工具来观察、触摸、抓住、操纵和改变他们的物理环境。雕塑家一只手拿着粘土，精确地雕刻出材料，创造出一件复杂的艺术品。机械师用手和工具到达汽车发动机最难以接近的角落进行修理。所有用手工作的人，穿针，雕刻肥皂雕塑，或者给墙上的电源插座接线，都知道他们在双手触手可及的空间里工作时所拥有的非凡的灵巧和精确。该项目研究了一种新型的增强和虚拟现实（AR/VR）环境，使设计师在这个工作空间中更具创造力。现有的AR/VR系统只允许用户在一臂的距离内进行交互，这使得它无法利用人类与生俱来的能力来使用手和工具来接近身体的精确动作。因此，AR和VR在促进创造性思维和解决问题方面的最初承诺仍然没有实现。为此，在这个项目中设计了一个工作空间，使设计师能够通过镜像人类在日常生活中可以执行的复杂，复杂和精确的动作，在三维（3D）空间中创建虚拟设计。研究团队将开发AR/VR技术和方法，使用户能够直接“绘制”3D数字对象，精确控制这些对象，并将它们组装成物理上可行的设计。该研究团队将整合该项目的新技术和工具，以促进K-12学生、本科生和研究生课程中的几何推理。该项目有可能对未来的创造性工作做出长期贡献，并可能通过使小企业有效和经济地进行创新，对美国在设计、制造和教育方面的能力产生积极影响。为了能够为3D设计创建一类新的AR和VR接口，本研究探讨了虚拟对象的精确空间操作，以促进3D数字设计。研究团队将利用感知-运动甜蜜点系统地探索新的空间互动，即人体附近的部分额部空间，通过视觉-触觉感知、本体感觉和精细的双手运动控制的融合，可以实现高精度的互动。通过一系列迭代设计-原型-评估周期，研究团队将(1)研究空间对象操作工作空间中有形双手交互的视觉-运动和生物力学方面；(2)基于这些交互，开发虚拟机械工件三维设计和建模的数字化工作流程；(3)扩展数字工作流程，以实现由触觉驱动的基于物理的设计。首先，该项目将有助于理解如何利用人类固有的灵活性来实现精确的空间交互。其次，该项目将揭示精确的空间互动如何促进设计创造力，并使创作者能够设计出功能性的人工制品。最后，该研究将通过整合用户意图、设计可行性和功能产品的物理实现的新交互方法，为实现感知-运动甜蜜点提供经过测试的方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

From an early age, humans learn to see, touch, hold, manipulate, and alter their physical surroundings using both of their hands and tools. A sculptor holds clay in one hand and precisely carves out material to create an intricate work of art. A mechanic uses hands and tools to reach the most inaccessible nooks of a car’s engine to make repairs. All who work their hands, threading needles, carving soap sculptures, or wiring electrical wall sockets know the extraordinary dexterity and precision they possess when working in the space within the near reach of both hands. The project investigates a new class of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) environments that allow designers to be more creative in this workspace. Existing AR/VR systems only allow users to interact at an arm’s length making it impossible to leverage the innate human ability to use hands and tools for precise actions close to the body. As a result, the original promise of AR and VR in facilitating creative thinking and problem-solving is still unrealized. Towards this, a workspace is designed in this project to enable designers to create virtual designs in three-dimensional (3D) space by mirroring the intricate, complex, and precise actions that humans can perform in daily life. The research team will develop AR/VR technology and approaches that will enable users to directly “sketch” 3D digital objects, precisely control those objects, and assemble them to create physically feasible designs. The research team will integrate the new technology and tools from this project to promote geometric reasoning in K-12 students, undergraduate, and graduate curriculum. The project has the potential to make a long-term contribution to the future of creative work and may positively impact U.S. competency in design, manufacturing, and education by enabling small businesses to innovate effectively and economically.In order to enable the creation of a new class of AR and VR interfaces for 3D design, this research investigates precise spatial manipulation of virtual objects to facilitate 3D digital design. The research team will systematically explore new spatial interactions by leveraging the perceptual-motor sweet spot, i.e., a portion of frontal space in the immediate vicinity of the human body where highly precise interactions are possible through the confluence of visuo-tactile perception, proprioception, and fine bi-manual motor control. Through a series of iterative design-prototype-evaluate cycles, the research team will (1) study the visuo-motor and biomechanical aspects of tangible bi-manual interactions in the workspace for spatial object manipulation; (2) develop digital workflows for 3D design and modeling of virtual mechanical artifacts based on the those interactions; and (3) expand the digital workflows to enable physics-based design powered by haptics. First and foremost, the project will contribute to the understanding of how inherent human dexterity can be leveraged to enable precise spatial interactions. Second, the project will reveal how precise spatial interactions promote design creativity and enable creators to design functional artifacts. Finally, the research will provide tested methods for operationalizing the perceptual-motor sweet-spot through new interactive methods that integrate user intent, design feasibility, and physical realization of functional products.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.