PhD student uses a robot to make VR feel more real
The VR world is so fascinating, and so far we came the long way to explore the virtual worlds with the help of HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, but touching those false realities is the different matter. On solving this is finding with the haptic technology which can inherit the needs of the rapidly changing world of the Virtual environment.
In the present days the virtual world you are experiencing is as close to the world, you inhabit. The combination of the high-resolution screen, head tracking, room-mapping cameras and the motion controllers on the top-end systems like Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive can make this digital world look real.
One of the Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast has come up with the solution by using the robot arm. This haptic System uses the HTC Vive VR headset and the controller along with the $25,000 Baxter robot for helping and simulating the physical resistance. So the virtual reality isn’t just seeing the fantastic worlds and experiences, but you can also feel them.
The PhD candidate, Scott Devin, has built the setup for the proof of the concept ‘encounter haptic system’, which actively follows the Virtual reality user’s pushes towards the prior moments to simulate the physical objects in the virtual space. The rigging up of the $25,000 Baxter robot with the HTC vive is not a practical haptic feedback setup, but this is arrangement looks effective.
From the demo of Devin, this served to provide the force feedback and weight to the users pushing the virtual wooden blocks from the VR shelf/table. The VR user can reset the level of weights to light, medium and heavy and continue the game. The Baxter robot tracks the positioning of the user’s hand, and it pushes back to simulate the weight of wooden blocks. The more weight the blocks gets is programmed, and the Baxter pushes back and gives the VR user physical impression that the user is pushing down the digital objects.
