Grabity: A Wearable Haptic Interface for Simulating Weight and Grasping in Virtual Reality
Abstract
Ungrounded haptic devices for virtual reality (VR) applications
lack the ability to convincingly render the sensations of
a grasped virtual object’s rigidity and weight. We present Grabity,
a wearable haptic device designed to simulate kinesthetic
pad opposition grip forces and weight for grasping virtual
objects in VR. The device is mounted on the index finger
and thumb and enables precision grasps with a wide range of
motion. A unidirectional brake creates rigid grasping force
feedback. Two voice coil actuators create virtual force tangential
to each finger pad through asymmetric skin deformation.
These forces can be perceived as gravitational and inertial
forces of virtual objects. The rotational orientation of the
voice coil actuators is passively aligned with the real direction
of gravity through a revolute joint, causing the virtual forces to
always point downward. This paper evaluates the performance
of Grabity through two user studies, finding promising ability
to simulate different levels of weight with convincing object
rigidity. The first user study shows that Grabity can convey
various magnitudes of weight and force sensations to users by
manipulating the amplitude of the asymmetric vibration. The
second user study shows that users can differentiate different
weights in a virtual environment using Grabity.
lack the ability to convincingly render the sensations of
a grasped virtual object’s rigidity and weight. We present Grabity,
a wearable haptic device designed to simulate kinesthetic
pad opposition grip forces and weight for grasping virtual
objects in VR. The device is mounted on the index finger
and thumb and enables precision grasps with a wide range of
motion. A unidirectional brake creates rigid grasping force
feedback. Two voice coil actuators create virtual force tangential
to each finger pad through asymmetric skin deformation.
These forces can be perceived as gravitational and inertial
forces of virtual objects. The rotational orientation of the
voice coil actuators is passively aligned with the real direction
of gravity through a revolute joint, causing the virtual forces to
always point downward. This paper evaluates the performance
of Grabity through two user studies, finding promising ability
to simulate different levels of weight with convincing object
rigidity. The first user study shows that Grabity can convey
various magnitudes of weight and force sensations to users by
manipulating the amplitude of the asymmetric vibration. The
second user study shows that users can differentiate different
weights in a virtual environment using Grabity.
Research Areas
