RollingStone: Using Single Slip Taxel for Enhancing Active Finger Exploration with a Virtual Reality Controller

Abstract

We propose using a single slip tactile pixel on virtual reality controllers to produce sensations of finger sliding and textures. When a user moves the controller on a virtual surface, we add a slip opposite to the movement, creating the illusion of a finger that is sliding on the surface, while varying the slip feedback changes in lateral forces on the fingertip. When coupled with hand motion the lateral forces can be used to create perceptions of artificial textures. RollingStone has been implemented as a prototype VR controller consisting of a ball-based slip display positioned under the user's fingertip. Within the slip display, a pair of motors actuates the ball, which is capable of generating both short- and long-term two-degree-of-freedom slip feedback. An exploratory study was conducted to ensure that changing the relative motion between the finger and the ball could alter the perceptions conveying the properties of a texture. The following two perception-based studies examined the minimum changes in speed of slip and angle of slip that are detectable by users. The results help us to design haptic patterns as well as our prototype applications. Finally, our preliminary user evaluation indicates that participants welcomed RollingStone as a useful addition to the range of VR controllers.