Whole Hand Haptics

• Our sense of touch is in many ways the most sophisticated of our senses with receptors throughout the body. Unlike vision and hearing, haptics provides bi-directional communication between an individual and his/her environment. Yet, our sense of touch has been exploited for computer interfaces mostly in primitive ways, with both input and output limited to contact with a single point on a virtual object or to signal an event. But a single point of contact is often insufficient for exploration and manipulation: try to pick up a small object with only one finger! Current multi-point interaction devices are built using mechanical tendons, which are large and bulky and provide neither the stiffness nor the dynamic range required for object manipulation. We present a first generation of a haptic glove that acts as an external skeleton where the hand and finger joints are controlled by actuators that are integrated in the glove. This first prototype allows for six degrees of freedom (DOF) movement of the hand, and one DOF gripping with the thumb and index finger. The six DOF movements are accomplished with a commercial haptic arm, which allows us to simulate physical object properties such as weight, friction and inertia. The gripping force is controlled by the most compact high precision piezoelectric motor that is commercially available today, using a separate force sensor in a feed-back loop. The high stiffness of the motor in combination with a high dynamic speed range allows for delicate control of the gripping force. Combined with emerging 3D display technology, the haptic glove opens up exciting possibilities of co-located visio-haptic interaction more closely resembling real-world interaction.

Nyckelord

Haptics

Whole Hand

TECHNOLOGY

TEKNIKVETENSKAP

Computerized Image Processing

Datoriserad bildbehandling

Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot mikrosystemteknik

Engineering Science with specialization in Microsystems Technology

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