VWind: Virtual Wind Sensation to the Ear by Cross-Modal Effects of Audio-Visual, Thermal, and Vibrotactile Stimuli

Abstract

In the field of virtual reality, wind displays have been researched to present wind sensation. However, since the wind displays need physical wind sources, large heat transfer mechanisms are required to produce hot wind and cold wind. We propose to present virtual wind sensation by cross-modal effects. We developed VWind, a wearable headphone-type device to give vibrotactile and thermal stimuli to the ear in addition to visual scenarios and binaural sounds. For user experience, the demonstrations are prepared to present virtual wind sensation as if users were blown to the ear or exposed to freezing winds.