Directional Perception of Force in a Virtual Reality Environment

Force feedback during teleoperation and in Virtual Reality (VR) environments is becoming increasingly common. We are interested in understanding the impact of motion on the directional accuracy of force perception, as observed in a VR environment. We used a custom force-feedback system that pulled a handle with a force of 1.87N at various angles in front of N=14 subjects. The virtual environment showed a curved wall, which corresponded to the locations from which the force could physically originate. Subjects selected where they perceived the force to originate from with a virtual laser pointer and by orienting their head. We compared several conditions: the subject held the handle still; the subject moved the handle back and forth toward the center of the wall; the subject moved the handle back and forth across their body; and the subject moved the handle back and forth toward where they thought the force was originating. Subjects were able to localize the force with an average accuracy of 1-10 degrees depending on the force's location, which is better than previous studies. All conditions had similiar accuracies. Subjects had the best precision when they followed the force as compared to either of the other conditions with movement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Long, Zihao

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Williams, Ryan K.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Asbeck, Alan T.
• Plassmann, Paul E.

• Force perception
• directional accuracy
• virtual reality
• teleoperation
• hapticfeedback
• force feedback

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:25027

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/98005