Weatavix: Wearable actuated tangibles for virtual reality experiences

Abstract

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a wearable haptic interface for natural manipulation of tangible objects in Virtual Reality (VR). It proposes an interaction concept between encounter-type and tangible haptics. The actuated 1 degree-of-freedom interface brings a tangible object in and out of contact with a user’s palm, rendering making and breaking of contact with, and allowing grasping and manipulation of virtual objects. Device performance tests show that changes in contact states can be rendered with delays as low as 50 ms, with additional improvements to contact synchronicity obtained through our proposed interaction technique. An exploratory user study in VR showed that our device can render compelling grasp and release interactions with static and slowly moving virtual objects, contributing to user immersion.