The sensation of self-motion is essential in many virtual reality applications, from entertainment to training, such as flying and driving simulators. If the common approach used in amusement parks is to actuate the seats with cumbersome systems, multisensory integration can also be leveraged to get rich effects from lightweight solutions. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach called the “Kinesthetic HMD”: actuating a head-mounted display with force feedback in order to provide sensations of self-motion. We discuss its design considerations and demonstrate an augmented flight simulator use case with a proof-of-concept prototype. Thus, by providing congruent vestibular and proprioceptive cues related to balance and self-motion, the Kinesthetic HMD represents a promising approach for a variety of virtual reality applications in which motion sensations are prominent. We conducted a user study assessing our approach’s ability to enhance self-motion sensations. Taken together, our results show that our Kinesthetic HMD provides significantly stronger and more egocentric sensations than a visual-only self-motion experience.

Touchscreens have largely spread out over the last decade and have become one of the most ordinary human-machine interface. However, despite their many assets, touchscreens still lack of tactile sensations: they always feel flat, smooth, rigid and static under the finger, no matter the visual content. In this work, we investigate how to provide touchscreens with the means to touch us and express a variety of image-related haptic features.

"Touchy" is a novel approach to enhance images on touchscreens with haptic effects through purely visual cues. A symbolic cursor is introduced under the user's finger(s), which shape and motion are altered in order to express a variety of haptic properties : hardness/softness, roughness/smoothness, bumpiness/flatness, or stickiness/slipperiness. Because it is purely software, Touchy does not require additional hardware and is very easy to widespread. It is multitouch and several users can experiment independent pseudo-haptic effects simultaneoulsy. We propose a gallery of haptic images showcasing six different effects on a tactile tablet.

In this paper, we introduce KinesTouch, a novel approach for tactile screen enhancement providing four types of haptic feedback with a single force-feedback device: compliance, friction, fine roughness, and shape. We present the design and implementation of a corresponding set of haptic effects as well as a proof-of-concept setup. Regarding friction in particular, we propose a novel effect based on large lateral motion that increases or diminishes the sliding velocity between the finger and the screen. A user study was conducted on this effect to confirm its ability to produce distinct sliding sensations. Visual cues were confirmed to influence sliding judgments, but further studies would help clarifying the role of tactile cues. Finally, we showcase several use cases illustrating the possibilities offered by the KinesTouch to enhance 2D and 3D interactions on tactile screens in various contexts.

With the growth of virtual reality setups, digital sculpting tools become more and more immersive. It is now possible to create a piece of art within a virtual environment, directly with the controllers. However, these devices do not allow to touch the virtual material as a sculptor would do. To tackle this issue we investigate in this paper the use of a tangible surface that could be used in virtual reality setups. We designed a low-cost prototype composed of two layers of sensors in order to measure a wide range of pressure. We also propose two mapping techniques to map our device to a virtual 3D mesh to be sculpted.

A texture rendering system relying on pseudo-haptic and audio feedback is presented in this paper. While the user touches the texture displayed on a tactile screen, the associated image is deformed according to the contact area and the rubbing motion to simulate pressure. Additionally audio feedback is synthesized in real-time to simulate friction. A novel example-based scheme takes advantage of recorded audio samples of friction between actual textures and a finger at several speeds to synthesize the final output sound. This system can be implemented on any existing tactile screen without any extra mechanical device.