HAPTIC INFORMATION PRESENTATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20130265148A1
• Filed: 04/03/2013
• Published: 10/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Government of Japan), Murata Manufacturing Co Limited
• Original Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Government of Japan)
• Inventors: NAKAMURA, NORIO, FUKUI, YUKIO, SAKAI, MASATAKA
• Granted Patent: US 9,142,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/407.1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/285 Generating tactile feedback signals via the game input device, e.g. force feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/013 Force feedback applied to a game
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/014 Hand-worn input/output arrangements, e.g. data gloves
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 15/04 Sound-producing devices G10K15/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/36 Repeater circuits H04B3/58 takes precedence

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed in which in a conventional non-grounding man-machine interface having no reaction base on the human body and for giving the existence of a virtual object and the impact force of a collision to a person, a haptic sensation of a torque, a force and the like can be continuously presented in the same direction, which cannot be presented by only the physical characteristic of a haptic sensation presentation device. In a haptic presentation device, the rotation velocity of at least one rotator in the haptic presentation device is controlled by a control device, and a vibration, a force or a torque as the physical characteristic is controlled, so that the user is made to conceive various haptic information of the vibration, force, torque or the like.

Claims

1. An haptic communication apparatus comprising:

a first communication control device; and

a second communication control device including a haptic presentation device, wherein the second communication device is controlled so as to communicate with the first communication device,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control a physical quantity utilizing a haptic sensory characteristic representing a relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to a human body and a sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information.

2. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

3. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a nonlinearity of the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

4. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a nonlinearity of the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises a force sensation.

5. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a nonlinearity of the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises an acceleration, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

6. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a nonlinearity of the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises an acceleration, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises a force sensation.

7. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a hysteresis of the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

8. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a masking effect relating to a haptic sense, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

9. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device generates the physical quantity and a masking vibration to vary the sensory quantity due to the physical quantity by the masking vibration, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

10. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity utilizing a phenomenon that the relationship between the physical quantity to be applied to the human body and the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body is changed according to at least one of muscle tensile state, physical state, physiological state, psychological state, breath state, posture state, and neural firing state, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

11. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device generates a physical quantity according to at least one of muscle tensile state, physical state, physiological state, psychological state, breath state, posture state, and neural firing state so as to change the sensory quantity to be perceived by the human body, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

12. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device utilizes a plurality of operation points on a curve representing the relationship of the haptic sensory characteristic to generate a plurality of physical quantities corresponding the plurality of operation points, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

13. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to control the physical quantity by setting each of operation points on a curve representing the relationship of the haptic sensory characteristic and each operation duration time on each of operation points, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

14. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device generates a plurality of physical quantities so that the integral of the sensory quantity is not zero, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the physical quantity comprises at least one of a vibration, a torque and force, and

wherein the sensory quantity comprises at least one of a vibration sensation, a torque sensation, a force sensation, and an operation feeling.

15. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device comprises a plurality of eccentric rotator units, and

wherein setting control modes of the eccentric rotator units causes the presentation of one or more of a vibration, a force, a shear force, a torque, a resultant torque to twist a palm or a finger or another whole presentation object, a shape feeling of a three-dimensional object caused by presentation of a three-dimensional resisting force, an elastic feeling, a tactile sensation, a feeling in which a force is transmitted on a palm or a finger or another presentation object, a feeling in which a material rolls on a palm or a finger or another presentation object, a feeling in which a force, a vibration or a torque passes through a palm or a finger or another presentation object, and a texture of a surface of a virtual object.

16. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device comprises one or more rotators,

wherein a torque is generated by a temporal change of the resultant angular momentum vector of the angular momenta of each rotator to generate at least one of the vibration sensation, the torque sensation, the force sensation, and the operation feeling, and thereby to present haptic information,

wherein the haptic presentation device is operable to control a temporal change of a resultant momentum vector by controlling the rotations of each rotator individually,

wherein when the resultant angular momentum vector is in the vicinity of zero, the haptic presentation device is operable to change the resultant angular momentum vector abruptly to suppress a precession torque due to a operation of a user holding the haptic presentation device.

17. The haptic communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the haptic presentation device is adapted to present one or more of a shape feeling of a three-dimensional object caused by presentation of a three-dimensional resisting force, an elastic feeling, a tactile sensation, a feeling in which a force is transmitted on a palm or a finger or another presentation object, a feeling in which a material rolls on a palm or a finger or another presentation object, a feeling in which a force, a vibration or a torque passes through a palm or a finger or another presentation object, and a texture of a surface of a virtual object.