DeltaFinger: a 3-DoF Wearable Haptic Display Enabling High-Fidelity Force Vector Presentation at a User Finger

TL;DR

DeltaFinger is a wearable 3-DoF haptic device that provides high-fidelity force vector feedback to the fingertip, enhancing virtual reality interactions without restricting finger movement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel wearable delta mechanism capable of delivering precise 3D force vectors to the fingertip in VR environments.

Findings

Capable of delivering up to 1.8 N vertical force and 0.9 N horizontal force.

Achieved a mean force vector error of 0.6 radians in perception tests.

Demonstrated potential applications in VR, medicine, and navigation for visually impaired users.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel haptic device DeltaFinger designed to deliver the force of interaction with virtual objects by guiding user's finger with wearable delta mechanism. The developed interface is capable to deliver 3D force vector to the fingertip of the index finger of the user, allowing complex rendering of virtual reality (VR) environment. The developed device is able to produce the kinesthetic feedback up to 1.8 N in vertical projection and 0.9 N in horizontal projection without restricting the motion freedom of of the remaining fingers. The experimental results showed a sufficient precision in perception of force vector with DeltaFinger (mean force vector error of 0.6 rad). The proposed device potentially can be applied to VR communications, medicine, and navigation of the people with vision problems.