VIRTUAL HAND: A NEW 3-D HAPTIC INTERFACE AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20090231272A1
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Borrel, Paul, Rogowitz, Bernice E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,350,843 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object

Abstract

The present invention discloses a creation of a virtual hand, body part, or tool in a virtual environment, controlled by a new 3-D haptic interface for virtual environments. There is also the provision of a method and arrangement applicable to computer systems for creating a virtual environment, which facilitates a user to touch, feel, edit, and interact with data about the objects, surfaces, and textures in the environment. There is also a provision for multiple virtual hands operating in the same virtual world, so that users can work collaboratively in the virtual world; they can touch, feel and edit the data in the virtual world, including data about the other users'"'"' virtual hands.

Claims

1. A method of producing a 3-D interface facilitating a user to move a virtual hand or body part or tool through a computer graphics environment defining a “

virtual space”

, said method comprising;

placing the user'"'"'s hand on a surface representing a virtual environment representation of a virtual hand; and

implementing changes in the representations on said virtual surface such that displacements of said surface responsive to touch by the user'"'"'s hand is reflected as interpretative of a commensurate displacement of the virtual hand in the virtual space.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein structures in the virtual environment are represented on the haptic device such that the experience of touching objects and surfaces in said virtual environment are sensed by the user through the haptic device, whereby forces applied to the user'"'"'s hand touching a structure representative of said virtual environment are encountered upon said virtual hand seemingly touching objects and surfaces in said virtual environment.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said structure representative of said virtual environment comprises an array of pins having the tips of said pins contacting the hand of the user, said tips of the array of pins representing the touching surface of the virtual hand, and when a surface is encountered, the surface in the virtual environment.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein a robot arm mounts said array of pins, and movement imparted to the robot arm responsive to said pin tips contacting and being displaced by motion of the user'"'"'s hand being interpreted as a movement of the virtual hand in said virtual environment.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said robot arm mounting said array of pins possess 6 degrees of freedom of movement.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said virtual hand is movable over a virtual object so as to sense a texture and shape thereof at locations where pins of said array are displaced by the user'"'"'s hand to communicate said texture and shape to the user.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said virtual object comprises the virtual hand of another user, facilitating hand contact mediated and manipulated in a virtual world.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body part comprises a user'"'"'s face which is capable of transporting a virtual face into a virtual world so as to be touchable by another virtual face or virtual hand.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said 3-D interface is adapted to generate scenarios in a virtual environment including, selectively, virtual shopping, interactive computer games, virtual masseuse avatar, virtual pottery, virtual sports, tactile skill learning, training aids, and computer-aided designs.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method is implementable on computer systems so as to create, through said virtual hand or body part, a virtual environment enabling a user to touch, feel and interact with data.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein forces applied by the users'"'"' hand on the haptic device allow the user to edit and shape the objects, textures and surfaces in the virtual world.

12. A system for producing a 3-D interface facilitating a user to move a virtual hand or body part through a computer graphics environment, said system comprising:

a surface representing a virtual environment representation of a virtual hand having the user'"'"'s hand placed thereon; and

the representations on said virtual surface being changed such that displacements of said surface responsive to touch by the users hand is reflected as interpretative of a commensurate displacement of the virtual hand.

13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein forces applied to the user'"'"'s hand touching a structure representative of said virtual environment are encountered upon said virtual hand seemingly touching objects and surfaces in said virtual environment.

14. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said structure representative of said virtual environment comprises an array of pins having the tips of said pins contacting the hand of the user, said tips of the array of pins representing the surface of the virtual environment, a robot arm mounting said array of pins, and movement imparted to the robot arm responsive to said pin tips contacting and being displaced by motion of the user'"'"'s hand being interpreted as a movement of the virtual hand in said virtual environment.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said robot arm mounting said array of pins possess 6 degrees of freedom of movement.

16. A system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said virtual hand is movable over a virtual object so as to sense a texture and shape thereof at locations where pins of said array are displaced by the user'"'"'s hand to communicate said texture and shape to the user.

17. A system as claimed in claim 16, wherein said virtual object comprises the virtual hand of another user, facilitating hand contact mediated and manipulated in a virtual world.

18. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said body part comprises a user'"'"'s face which is capable of transporting a virtual face into a virtual world so as to be touchable by another virtual face or virtual hand.

19. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said 3-D interface is adapted to generate scenarios in a virtual environment including, selectively, interactive computer games, virtual shopping, virtual masseuse avatar, virtual pottery, virtual sports, tactile skill learning, training aids, and computer-aided designs, and is implementable on computer systems so as to create, through said virtual hand or body part, a virtual environment enabling a user to touch, feel and interact with data.

20. A system readable by machine tangibly employing a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for producing a 3-D interface facilitating a user to move a virtual hand or body part through a computer graphics environment, said method steps comprising:

placing the user'"'"'s hand on a surface representing a virtual environment representation of a virtual hand having the user'"'"'s hand placed thereon; and

implementing changes in the representations on said virtual surface being changed such that displacements of said surface responsive to touch by the users hand is reflected as interpretative of a commensurate displacement of the virtual hand.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein forces applied to the user'"'"'s hand touching a structure representative of said virtual environment are encountered upon said virtual hand seemingly touching objects and surfaces in said virtual environment.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21, wherein said structure representative of said virtual environment comprises an array of pins having the tips of said pins contacting the hand of the user, said tips of the array of pins representing the surface of the virtual environment, a robot arm mounting said array of pins, and movement imparted to the robot arm responsive to said pin tips contacting and being displaced by motion of the user'"'"'s hand being interpreted as a movement of the virtual hand in said virtual environment.

23. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein said robot arm mounting said array of pins possess 6 degrees of freedom of movement.

24. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein said virtual hand is movable over and around a virtual object so as to sense a texture and shape thereof at locations where pins of said array are displaced by the user'"'"'s hand to communicate said texture and shape to the user.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said virtual object comprises the virtual hand of another user, facilitating hand contact mediated and manipulated in a virtual world, or wherein said body part selectively comprises a user'"'"'s face which is capable of transporting a virtual face into a virtual world so as to be touchable by another virtual face or virtual hand.

26. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said 3-D interface is adapted to generate scenarios in a virtual environment including, selectively, virtual masseuse avatar, virtual pottery, virtual sports, tactile skill learning, training aids, and computer-aided designs, and said method is implementable on computer systems so as to create, through said virtual hand or body part, a virtual environment enabling a user to touch, feel and interact with data.

27. A method wherein the 3-D interface provides a collaborative mechanism whereby users in different physical environments can interact on the same computer-generated model, where each user can feel, touch, edit and manipulate the objects, surfaces and textures in the computer-generated virtual environment.