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This thesis explores novel haptic user interfaces for touchscreens, virtual and remote environments (VE and RE). All feedback modalities have been designed to study performance and perception while focusing on integrating an additional sensory channel - the sense of touch. Related work has shown that tactile stimuli can increase performance and usability when interacting with a touchscreen. It was also shown that perceptual aspects in virtual environments could be improved by haptic feedback. Motivated by previous findings, this thesis examines the versatility of haptic feedback approaches. For this purpose, five haptic interfaces from two application areas are presented. Research methods from prototyping and experimental design are discussed and applied. These methods are used to create and evaluate the interfaces; therefore, seven experiments have been performed. All five prototypes use a unique feedback approach. While three haptic user interfaces designed for touchscreen interaction address the fingers, two interfaces developed for VE and RE target the feet. Within touchscreen interaction, an actuated touchscreen is presented, and study shows the limits and perceptibility of geometric shapes. The combination of elastic materials and a touchscreen is examined with the second interface. A psychophysical study has been conducted to highlight the potentials of the interface. The back of a smartphone is used for haptic feedback in the third prototype. Besides a psychophysical study, it is found that the touch accuracy could be increased. Interfaces presented in the second application area also highlight the versatility of haptic feedback. The sides of the feet are stimulated in the first prototype. They are used to provide proximity information of remote environments sensed by a telepresence robot. In a study, it was found that spatial awareness could be increased. Finally, the soles of the feet are stimulated. A designed foot platform that provides several feedback modalities shows that self-motion perception can be increased.
The objective of the FIVIS project is to develop a bicycle simulator which is able to simulate real life bicycle ride situations as a virtual scenario within an immersive environment. A sample test bicycle is mounted on a motion platform to enable a close to reality simulation of turns and balance situations. The visual field of the bike rider is enveloped within a multi-screen visualization environment which provides visual data relative to the motion and activity of the test bicycle. This implies the bike rider has to pedal and steer the bicycle as they would a traditional bicycle, while forward motion is recorded and processed to control the visualization. Furthermore, the platform is fed with real forces and accelerations that have been logged by a mobile data acquisition system during real bicycle test drives. Thus, using a feedback system makes the movements of the platform reflect the virtual environment and the reaction of the driver (e.g. steering angle, step rate).
We present our approach to extend a Virtual Reality software framework towards the use for Augmented Reality applications. Although VR and AR applications have very similar requirements in terms of abstract components (like 6DOF input, stereoscopic output, simulation engines), the requirements in terms of hardware and software vary considerably. In this article we would like to share the experience gained from adapting our VR software framework for AR applications. We will address design issues for this task. The result is a VR/AR basic software that allows us to implement interactive applications without fixing their type (VR or AR) beforehand. Switching from VR to AR is a matter of changing the configuration file of the application. We also give an example of the use of the extended framework: Augmenting the magnetic field of bar magnets in physics classes. We describe the setup of the system and the real-time calculation of the magnetic field, using a GPU.
Realism and plausibility of computer controlled entities in entertainment software have been enhanced by adding both static personalities and dynamic emotions. Here a generic model is introduced which allows the transfer of findings from real-life personality studies to a computational model. This information is used for decision making. The introduction of dynamic event-based emotions enables adaptive behavior patterns. The advantages of this new model have been validated with a four-way crossroad in a traffic simulation. Driving agents using the introduced model enhanced by dynamics were compared to agents based on static personality profiles and simple rule-based behavior. It has been shown that adding an adaptive dynamic factor to agents improves perceivable plausibility and realism. It also supports coping with extreme situations in a fair and understandable way.