Study of an Interface using Virtual Haptic Sensing for the Visually Impaired

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25280097
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Kansei informatics
• Research Institution: Tsukuba University of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TATSUMI Hisayuki 筑波技術大学, 保健科学部, 教授 (30188271)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MIYAKAWA Masahiro 筑波技術大学, 名誉教授 (70248748) ; SEKITA Iwao 筑波技術大学, 保健科学部, 教授 (40357322)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MURAI Yasuyuki 日本薬科大学, 薬学部, 准教授 (30373054)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 視覚障がい / 仮想触力覚 / 触知ＶＲ / 複合現実 / 白杖歩行支援 / 環境認知

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Creating a virtual reality (VR) by combining visual information and pseudo touch sensing is studied widely. Being strictly detached from visual information, the visually impaired are off from the benefit of VR technology. Our study here is the development of HAPTIC VR TECHNOLOGY for aiding them. We establish a new method of accessing VR space through "virtual white cane". Our VR sensing method consists of the following haptic sensing process at the fingers of the user's hand on which "data-glove" (force feedback device) is worn. In our VR setting, we have implemented two objects: "studded paving blocks on the pavement" and "white-cane" with a "hand" which manipulate it in search for the blocks on the pavement. One of user's hand wearing the data-glove on it is superposed on the virtual hand by the system. Thus the search by touching on the pavement by the white-cane in the VR space is successfully conveyed to the actual hand of the user via data-glove.

Free Research Field

福祉情報工学