Towards Tangible Cultural Heritage Experiences—Enriching VR-based Object Inspection with Haptic Feedback

VR/AR technology is a key enabler for new ways of immersively experiencing cultural heritage artifacts based on their virtual counterparts obtained from a digitization process. In this article, we focus on enriching VR-based object inspection by additional haptic feedback, thereby creating tangible cultural heritage experiences. For this purpose, we present an approach for interactive and collaborative VR-based object inspection and annotation. Our system supports high-quality 3D models with accurate reflectance characteristics while additionally providing haptic feedback regarding shape features of the object based on a 3D printed replica. The digital object model in terms of a printable representation of the geometry as well as reflectance characteristics are stored in a compact and streamable representation on a central server, which streams the data to remotely connected users/clients. The latter can jointly perform an interactive inspection of the object in VR with additional haptic feedback through the 3D printed replica. Evaluations regarding system performance, visual quality of the considered models, as well as insights from a user study indicate an improved interaction, assessment, and experience of the considered objects.

A Survey on Haptic Technologies for Mobile Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) applications have gained much research and industry attention. Moreover, the mobile counterpart—mobile augmented reality (MAR) is one of the most explosive growth areas for AR applications in the mobile environment (e.g., smartphones). The technical improvements in the hardware of smartphones, tablets, and smart-glasses provide an advantage for the wide use of mobile AR in the real world and experience these AR applications anywhere. However, the mobile nature of MAR applications can limit users’ interaction capabilities, such as input and haptic feedback. In this survey, we analyze current research issues in the area of human-computer interaction for haptic technologies in MAR scenarios. The survey first presents human sensing capabilities and their applicability in AR applications. We classify haptic devices into two groups according to the triggered sense: cutaneous/tactile : touch, active surfaces, and mid-air; kinesthetic : manipulandum, grasp, and exoskeleton. Due to MAR applications’ mobile capabilities, we mainly focus our study on wearable haptic devices for each category and their AR possibilities. To conclude, we discuss the future paths that haptic feedback should follow for MAR applications and their challenges.

Continuous Operator Authentication for Teleoperated Systems Using Hidden Markov Models

In this article, we present a novel approach for continuous operator authentication in teleoperated robotic processes based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM). While HMMs were originally developed and widely used in speech recognition, they have shown great performance in human motion and activity modeling. We make an analogy between human language and teleoperated robotic processes (i.e., words are analogous to a teleoperator’s gestures, sentences are analogous to the entire teleoperated task or process) and implement HMMs to model the teleoperated task. To test the continuous authentication performance of the proposed method, we conducted two sets of analyses. We built a virtual reality (VR) experimental environment using a commodity VR headset (HTC Vive) and haptic feedback enabled controller (Sensable PHANToM Omni) to simulate a real teleoperated task. An experimental study with 10 subjects was then conducted. We also performed simulated continuous operator authentication by using the JHU-ISI Gesture and Skill Assessment Working Set (JIGSAWS). The performance of the model was evaluated based on the continuous (real-time) operator authentication accuracy as well as resistance to a simulated impersonation attack. The results suggest that the proposed method is able to achieve 70% (VR experiment) and 81% (JIGSAWS dataset) continuous classification accuracy with as short as a 1-second sample window. It is also capable of detecting an impersonation attack in real-time.

A Virtual Reality Application of the Rubber Hand Illusion Induced by Ultrasonic Mid-air Haptic Stimulation

Ultrasonic mid-air haptic technologies, which provide haptic feedback through airwaves produced using ultrasound, could be employed to investigate the sense of body ownership and immersion in virtual reality (VR) by inducing the virtual hand illusion (VHI). Ultrasonic mid-air haptic perception has solely been investigated for glabrous (hairless) skin, which has higher tactile sensitivity than hairy skin. In contrast, the VHI paradigm typically targets hairy skin without comparisons to glabrous skin. The aim of this article was to investigate illusory body ownership, the applicability of ultrasonic mid-air haptics, and perceived immersion in VR using the VHI. Fifty participants viewed a virtual hand being stroked by a feather synchronously and asynchronously with the ultrasonic stimulation applied to the glabrous skin on the palmar surface and the hairy skin on the dorsal surface of their hands. Questionnaire responses revealed that synchronous stimulation induced a stronger VHI than asynchronous stimulation. In synchronous conditions, the VHI was stronger for palmar stimulation than dorsal stimulation. The ultrasonic stimulation was also perceived as more intense on the palmar surface compared to the dorsal surface. Perceived immersion was not related to illusory body ownership per se but was enhanced by the provision of synchronous stimulation.

Experimental Evaluation on Haptic Feedback Accuracy by Using Two Self-Made Haptic Devices and One Additional Interface in Robotic Teleoperation

The goal of haptic feedback in robotic teleoperation is to enable users to accurately feel the interaction force measured at the slave side and precisely understand what is happening in the slave environment. The accuracy of the feedback force describing the error between the actual feedback force felt by a user at the master side and the measured interaction force at the slave side is the key performance indicator for haptic display in robotic teleoperation. In this paper, we evaluate the haptic feedback accuracy in robotic teleoperation via experimental method. A special interface iHandle and two haptic devices, iGrasp-T and iGrasp-R, designed for robotic teleoperation are developed for experimental evaluation. The device iHandle integrates a high-performance force sensor and a micro attitude and heading reference system which can be used to identify human upper limb motor abilities, such as posture maintenance and force application. When a user is asked to grasp the iHandle and maintain a fixed position and posture, the fluctuation value of hand posture is measured to be between 2 and 8 degrees. Based on the experimental results, human hand tremble as input noise sensed by the haptic device is found to be a major reason that results in the noise of output force from haptic device if the spring-damping model is used to render feedback force. Therefore, haptic rendering algorithms should be independent of hand motion information to avoid input noise from human hand to the haptic control loop in teleoperation. Moreover, the iHandle can be fixed at the end effector of haptic devices; iGrasp-T or iGrasp-R, to measure the output force/torque from iGrasp-T or iGrasp-Rand to the user. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the output force from haptic device iGrasp-T is approximately 0.92 N, and using the force sensor in the iHandle can compensate for the output force inaccuracy of device iGrasp-T to 0.1 N. Using a force sensor as the feedback link to form a closed-loop feedback force control system is an effective way to improve the accuracy of feedback force and guarantee high-fidelity of feedback forces at the master side in robotic teleoperation.

Electronic skin as wireless human-machine interfaces for robotic VR

The closed-loop HMI system could compliantly interface with human body for teleoperating various robotics with haptic feedback.

Combining haptics and inertial motion capture to enhance remote control of a dual-arm robot

High dexterity is required in tasks in which there is contact between objects, such as surface conditioning (wiping, polishing, scuffing, sanding, etc.), specially when the location of the objects involved is unknown or highly inaccurate because they are moving, like a car body in automotive industry lines. These applications require the human adaptability and the robot accuracy. However, sharing the same workspace is not possible in most cases due to safety issues. Hence, a multi-modal teleoperation system combining haptics and an inertial motion capture system is introduced in this work. The human operator gets the sense of touch thanks to haptic feedback, whereas using the motion capture device allows more naturalistic movements. Visual feedback assistance is also introduced to enhance immersion. A Baxter dual-arm robot is used to offer more flexibility and manoeuvrability, allowing to perform two independent operations simultaneously. Several tests have been carried out to assess the proposed system. As it is shown by the experimental results, the task duration is reduced and the overall performance improves thanks to the proposed teleoperation method.

Remote Vascular Interventional Surgery Robotics: A Literature Review

Interventional doctors are exposed to radiation hazards during the operation and endure high work intensity. Remote vascular interventional surgery robotics is a hot research field that can not only protect the health of interventional doctors, but also improve accuracy and efficiency of surgeries. However, the current vascular interventional robots still have many shortcomings to be improved. This article introduces the mechanical structure characteristics of various fields of vascular interventional therapy surgical robots, discusses the current key features of vascular interventional surgical robotics in force sensing, haptic feedback, and control methods, summarizes current frontiers about autonomous surgery, long geographic distances remote surgery and MRI-compatible structures. Finally, combined with the current research status of vascular interventional surgery robots, this article analyzes the development directions and puts forward a vision for the future vascular interventional surgery robots.

Haptic Feedback to Assist Blind People in Indoor Environment Using Vibration Patterns

Feedback is one of the significant factors for the mental mapping of an environment. It is the communication of spatial information to blind people to perceive the surroundings. The assistive smartphone technologies deliver feedback for different activities using several feedback mediums, including voice, sonification and vibration. Researchers 0have proposed various solutions for conveying feedback messages to blind people using these mediums. Voice and sonification feedback are effective solutions to convey information. However, these solutions are not applicable in a noisy environment and may occupy the most important auditory sense. The privacy of a blind user can also be compromised with speech feedback. The vibration feedback could effectively be used as an alternative approach to these mediums. This paper proposes a real-time feedback system specifically designed for blind people to convey information to them based on vibration patterns. The proposed solution has been evaluated through an empirical study by collecting data from 24 blind people through a mixed-mode survey using a questionnaire. Results show the average recognition accuracy for 10 different vibration patterns are 90%, 82%, 75%, 87%, 65%, and 70%.