Virtual Training via Vibrotactile Arrays

Abstract

What is often missing from many virtual worlds and training simulations is a physical sense of the confinement and constraint of the virtual environment. We present a method for providing localized cutaneous vibratory feedback to the user's right arm. We created a sleeve of tactors linked to a real-time human model; the tactors activate to apply sensation to the corresponding body area. The hypothesis is that vibrotactile feedback to body areas provides the wearer sufficient guidance to assume correct body configurations and ascertain the existence and physical realism of access paths. We present the results of human subject experiments that study both explicit and implicit training of skills using vibrotactile arrays. Implicitly, collision awareness is achieved by activating the appropriate tactor when a body part collides with the scene; thus, the user will attempt to correct his or her body configuration. Explicitly, we use the tactors to guide the body into the proper configuration. The results of human subject experiments clearly show that the use of full arm vibrotactile feedback improves performance over purely visual feedback for navigating the virtual environment, as well as allowing easy acquisition of new skills. These results validate the empirical performance of this concept. Disciplines Computer Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics Comments Virtual Training via Vibrotactile Arrays AbstractWhat is often missing from many virtual worlds and training simulations is a physical sense of the confinement and constraint of the virtual environment. We present a method for providing localized cutaneous vibratory feedback to the user's right arm. We created a sleeve of tactors linked to a real-time human model; the tactors activate to apply sensation to the corresponding body area. The hypothesis is that vibrotactile feedback to body areas provides the wearer sufficient guidance to assume correct body configurations and ascertain the existence and physical realism of access paths. We present the results of human subject experiments that study both explicit and implicit training of skills using vibrotactile arrays. Implicitly, collision awareness is achieved by activating the appropriate tactor when a body part collides with the scene; thus, the user will attempt to correct his or her body configuration. Explicitly, we use the tactors to guide the body into the proper configuration. The results of human subject experiments clearly show that the use of full arm vibrotactile feedback improves performance over purely visual feedback for navigating the virtual environment, as well as allowing easy acquisition of new skills. These results validate the empirical performance of this concept.

Spatially distributed tactile feedback for kinesthetic motion guidance

“…One recent implementation of this spatially distributed contact feedback approach was done by Bloomfield and Badler [4], who created a tactile sleeve embedded with vibrotactile actuators and optical motion-tracking markers. Subjects reached within 3D virtual puzzles while trying to avoid collisions with the walls.…”

“…We chose to use tactile feedback derived from joint angle errors to guide the subject to target arm configurations, as we believe this may be an intuitive motion domain. This choice is similar to Lieberman and Breazeal [14] and is in contrast to the Cartesian collision paradigm chosen by Bloomfield and Badler [4]. For each joint we define an angular tolerance, θ Tolerance , which is used to determine whether the current pose is close enough to the goal.…”

MusicJacket

“…In particular, the potential of vibrotactile feedback to enhance motor learning has been shown in a number of user studies [3,5,7]. Spelmezan et al [6] used patterns of vibrations across the body to indicate to participants different actions to take whilst snowboarding, reporting faster reaction times than the same instructions given verbally; Lieberman and Breazeal [5] showed that the addition of vibrotactile feedback improved participants' abilities to mimic the joint angles of a moving arm shown on screen; and Bloomfield and Badler [3] employed vibrotactile feedback to teach aspects of karate and found that participants improved significantly after receiving vibrotactile feedback.…”

Effects of Multi-modal Guidance for the Acquisition of Sight Reading Skills: A Case Study with Simple Drum Sequences

“…[4] , 드럼 리 듬 연주 [5] , 연주 속도 조절 [6] , 보행 속도 조절 [7] , 스노우 보 딩 자세 [8] 등 다양한 기능에 대해 시도되었다. 지시뿐만 아 니라, 진동 자극을 통한 보강적 피드백으로 팔의 자세 [9,10] , 보행 패턴 [11] , 바이올린 연주 동작 및 자세 [12] 를 교정한 연 문에 심도 있게 정리되어 있다 [13,14] . 기존의 촉각 운동 학습 연구 중, 소수의 문헌들만이 촉각 교육의 효과를 시각 또는 청각 교육과 정량적으로 비교하였다 [6,8,10,[15][16][17] .…”

“…지시뿐만 아 니라, 진동 자극을 통한 보강적 피드백으로 팔의 자세 [9,10] , 보행 패턴 [11] , 바이올린 연주 동작 및 자세 [12] 를 교정한 연 문에 심도 있게 정리되어 있다 [13,14] . 기존의 촉각 운동 학습 연구 중, 소수의 문헌들만이 촉각 교육의 효과를 시각 또는 청각 교육과 정량적으로 비교하였다 [6,8,10,[15][16][17] . 관련 연구 중에서 지시와 보강적 피드백을 함께 사용한 사례는 일부 문헌에서 발견할 수 있으나 [9,10,18,19] , 빈도를 조절하는 방안을 고려하고 있다 [26] .…”