HapticWall: An Encountered-Type Two-Dimensional Vertical System for Virtual Reality

We present HapticWall, an encountered-type, motor actuated vertical two-dimensional system that enables both small and large scale physical interactions in virtual reality. HapticWall consists of a motor-actuated vertical two-dimensional gantry system that powers the physical proxy for the virtual counterpart. The physical proxy, combined with the HapticWall system, can be used to provide both small and large scale haptic feedbacks for virtual reality in the vertical space. Haptic Wall is capable of providing wall-like haptic feedback and interactions in the vertical space. We created two virtual reality applications to demonstrate the application of the HapticWall system. Preliminary user feedback was collected to evaluate the performance and the limitations of the HapticWall system. The results of our study are presented in this paper. The outcome of this research will provide better understanding of multi-scale haptic interfaces in the vertical space for virtual reality and guide the future development of the HapticWall system.