A Vibrotactile Device for Display of Virtual Ground Materials in Walking

We present a floor tile designed to provide the impression of walking on different ground materials, such as gravel, carpet, or stone. The device uses affordable and commercially available vibrotactile actuators and force sensors, and as such might one day be cost-effectively used in everyday environments. The control software is based on a lumped model of physical interactions between the foot and the ground surface. We have prototyped a measurement scheme for calibrating the device to match real-world ground materials.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: HAPTICS
• Authors: Yon Visell, Jeremy R. Cooperstock, Bruno L. Giordano, Karmen Franinovic, Alvin Law, Stephen McAdams, Kunal Jathal, Federico Fontana
• Keywords: Available Vibrotactile Actuators, Different Ground Materials, Ground Materials, HAPTICS 2008, Virtual Reality