Magnetosensitive e-skins with directional perception for augmented reality

Electronic skins equipped with artificial receptors are able to extend our perception beyond the modalities that have naturally evolved. These synthetic receptors offer complimentary information on our surroundings and endow us with novel means of manipulating physical or even virtual objects. We realize highly compliant magnetosensitive skins with directional perception that enable magnetic cognition, body position tracking, and touchless object manipulation. Transfer printing of eight high-performance spin valve sensors arranged into two Wheatstone bridges onto 1.7-mm-thick polyimide foils ensures mechanical imperceptibility. This resembles a new class of interactive devices extracting information from the surroundings through magnetic tags. We demonstrate this concept in augmented reality systems with virtual knob-turning functions and the operation of virtual dialing pads, based on the interaction with magnetic fields. This technology will enable a cornucopia of applications from navigation, motion tracking in robotics, regenerative medicine, and sports and gaming to interaction in supplemented reality

Distributed lightning monitoring: an affordable proposal

In theaters and the filmmaking industry, video streams, images, audio streams and scalar data are commonly used. In these fields, one of the most important magnitudes to be collected and controlled is the light intensity in different scene spots. So, it is extremely important to be able to deploy a network of light sensors which are usually integrated in a more general Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network (WMSN). If many light measurements have to be acquired, the simpler and cheaper the sensor, the more affordable theWMSN will be. In this paper we propose the use of a set of very cheap light sensors (photodiodes) and to spectrally and directionally correct their measurements using mathematical methods. A real testing of the proposed solution has been accomplished, obtaining quite accurate light measurements. Testing results are also presented throughout the paper.Telefonica Chair "Intelligence in Networks" of the University of Seville (Spain

Design and Development of a Multimodal Vest for Virtual Immersion and Guidance

This paper is focused on the development of a haptic vest to enhance immersion and realism in virtual environments, through vibrotactile feedback. The first steps to achieve touch-based communication are presented in order to set an actuation method based on vibration motors. Resulting vibrotactile patterns helping users to move inside virtual reality (VR). The research investigates human torso resolution and perception of vibration patterns, evaluating different kind of actuators at different locations on the vest. Finally, determining an appropriate distribution of vibration patterns allowed the generation of sensations that, for instance, help to guide in a mixed or virtual reality environment

Design and Effect of Continuous Wearable Tactile Displays

Our sense of touch is one of our core senses and while not as information rich as sight and hearing, it tethers us to reality. Our skin is the largest sensory organ in our body and we rely on it so much that we don\u27t think about it most of the time. Tactile displays - with the exception of actuators for notifications on smartphones and smartwatches - are currently understudied and underused. Currently tactile cues are mostly used in smartphones and smartwatches to notify the user of an incoming call or text message. Specifically continuous displays - displays that do not just send one notification but stay active for an extended period of time and continuously communicate information - are rarely studied. This thesis aims at exploring the utilization of our vibration perception to create continuous tactile displays. Transmitting a continuous stream of tactile information to a user in a wearable format can help elevate tactile displays from being mostly used for notifications to becoming more like additional senses enabling us to perceive our environment in new ways. This work provides a serious step forward in design, effect and use of continuous tactile displays and their use in human-computer interaction. The main contributions include: Exploration of Continuous Wearable Tactile Interfaces This thesis explores continuous tactile displays in different contexts and with different types of tactile information systems. The use-cases were explored in various domains for tactile displays - Sports, Gaming and Business applications. The different types of continuous tactile displays feature one- or multidimensional tactile patterns, temporal patterns and discrete tactile patterns. Automatic Generation of Personalized Vibration Patterns In this thesis a novel approach of designing vibrotactile patterns without expert knowledge by leveraging evolutionary algorithms to create personalized vibration patterns - is described. This thesis presents the design of an evolutionary algorithm with a human centered design generating abstract vibration patterns. The evolutionary algorithm was tested in a user study which offered evidence that interactive generation of abstract vibration patterns is possible and generates diverse sets of vibration patterns that can be recognized with high accuracy. Passive Haptic Learning for Vibration Patterns Previous studies in passive haptic learning have shown surprisingly strong results for learning Morse Code. If these findings could be confirmed and generalized, it would mean that learning a new tactile alphabet could be made easier and learned in passing. Therefore this claim was investigated in this thesis and needed to be corrected and contextualized. A user study was conducted to study the effects of the interaction design and distraction tasks on the capability to learn stimulus-stimulus-associations with Passive Haptic Learning. This thesis presents evidence that Passive Haptic Learning of vibration patterns induces only a marginal learning effect and is not a feasible and efficient way to learn vibration patterns that include more than two vibrations. Influence of Reference Frames for Spatial Tactile Stimuli Designing wearable tactile stimuli that contain spatial information can be a challenge due to the natural body movement of the wearer. An important consideration therefore is what reference frame to use for spatial cues. This thesis investigated allocentric versus egocentric reference frames on the wrist and compared them for induced cognitive load, reaction time and accuracy in a user study. This thesis presents evidence that using an allocentric reference frame drastically lowers cognitive load and slightly lowers reaction time while keeping the same accuracy as an egocentric reference frame, making a strong case for the utilization of allocentric reference frames in tactile bracelets with several tactile actuators

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2022, held in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2022. The 36 regular papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 129 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: haptic science; haptic technology; and haptic applications

Gapeau: Enhancing the Sense of Distance to Others with a Head-Mounted Sensor

Human perception lacks the capabilities to accurately assess distance. The recent Covid-19 pandemic outbreak rendered this ability particularly important. Augmenting our sense of distance can help maintain safe separation from others when required. To explore how systems can help users maintain physical distance, we designed, implemented and evaluated Gapeau - a head-mounted system for augmenting the sense of distance. Our system uses proximity sensors and thermal sensing to detect and measure the distance to other people. We conducted a validation protocol, an experiment, in which we compared different feedback modalities, and an in-the-wild study to evaluate Gapeau\u27s performance and suitability for use in social contexts. We found that our system enabled users to more accurately determine whether they were maintaining a safe distance from others. Vibration and auditory feedback were found most effective and usable. Gapeau was perceived as socially acceptable. Our work contributes insights for augmented sensing systems with social relevance