Passive Touch Experience with Virtual Doctor Fish Using Ultrasound Haptics

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel passive touch system using ultrasound haptics and autostereoscopic displays to simulate the sensation of a virtual doctor fish nibbling, evaluated through user studies on realism.

Contribution

It introduces a new ultrasound haptics method combined with visual display for passive touch simulation, optimizing parameters for realism.

Findings

10 Hz STM frequency yields the most realistic sensation.

Fewer focal points improve the realism of the touch experience.

User preference is influenced by STM parameters and hand moistening.

Abstract

This study implements and evaluates passive interaction using an autostereoscopic display and ultrasound haptics technology, simulating Garra rufa ("doctor fish") nibbling. When the virtual doctor fish touches the user's hand, ultrasound tactile sensations are presented by spatio-temporal modulation (STM) as an ultrasound focal point orbits around the contact points. A user study evaluated parameters affecting realism, including STM frequency, the number of focal points, ultrasound amplitude, and hand moistening. Comparing several combinations of parameters revealed that representing contact with fewer representative points and setting the frequency of the STM to 10 Hz produced the most realistic experience.