Fabien Danieau

HapSeat: producing motion sensation with multiple force-feedback devices embedded in a seat

We introduce a novel way of simulating sensations of motion which does not require an expensive and cumbersome motion platform. Multiple force-feedbacks are applied to the seated users body to generate a sensation of motion experiencing passive navigation. A set of force-feedback devices such as mobile armrests or headrests are arranged around a seat so that they can apply forces to the user. We have dubbed this new approach HapSeat. A proof of concept has been designed which uses three low-cost force-feedback devices, and two control models have been implemented. Results from the first user study suggest that subjective sensations of motion are reliably generated using either model. Our results pave the way to a novel device to generate consumer motion effects based on our prototype.

Enhancing Audiovisual Experience with Haptic Feedback: A Survey on HAV

Haptic technology has been widely employed in applications ranging from teleoperation and medical simulation to art and design, including entertainment, flight simulation, and virtual reality. Today there is a growing interest among researchers in integrating haptic feedback into audiovisual systems. A new medium emerges from this effort: haptic-audiovisual (HAV) content. This paper presents the techniques, formalisms, and key results pertinent to this medium. We first review the three main stages of the HAV workflow: the production, distribution, and rendering of haptic effects. We then highlight the pressing necessity for evaluation techniques in this context and discuss the key challenges in the field. By building on existing technologies and tackling the specific challenges of the enhancement of audiovisual experience with haptics, we believe the field presents exciting research perspectives whose financial and societal stakes are significant.

H-Studio: an authoring tool for adding haptic and motion effects to audiovisual content

Haptic and motion effects have been widely used for virtual reality applications in order to provide a physical feedback from the virtual world. Such feedback was recently studied to improve the user experience in audiovisual entertainment applications. But the creation of haptic and motion effects is a main issue and requires dedicated editing tool. This paper describes a user-friendly authoring tool to create and synchronize such effects with audiovisual content. More precisely we focus on the edition of motion effects. Authoring is simplified thanks to a dedicated graphical user interface, allowing either to import external data or to synthesize effects thanks to a force-feedback device. Another key feature of this editor is the playback function which enables to preview the motion effect. Hence this new tool allows non expert users to create immersive haptic-audiovisual experiences.

Attention guidance for immersive video content in head-mounted displays

Immersive videos allow users to freely explore 4 π steradian scenes within head-mounted displays (HMD), leading to a strong feeling of immersion. However users may miss important elements of the narrative if not facing them. Hence, we propose four visual effects to guide the users attention. After an informal pilot study, two of the most efficient effects were evaluated through a user study. Results show that our approach has potential but it remains challenging to implicitly drive the users attention outside of the field of view.

Introducing basic principles of haptic cinematography and editing

Adding the sense of touch to hearing and seeing would be necessary for a true immersive experience. This is the promise of the growing 4D-cinema based on motion platforms and others sensory effects (water spray, wind, scent, etc.). Touch provides a new dimension for filmmakers and leads to a new creative area, the haptic cinematography. However design rules are required to use this sensorial modality in the right way for increasing the user experience. This paper addresses this issue, by introducing principles of haptic cinematography editing. The proposed elements are based on early feedback from different creative works performed by the authors (including a student in cinema arts), anticipating the role of haptographers, the experts on haptic content creation. Three full short movies have been augmented with haptic feedback and tested by numerous users, in order to provide the inputs for this introductory paper.

A Tangible Surface for Digital Sculpting in Virtual Environments

With the growth of virtual reality setups, digital sculpting tools become more and more immersive. It is now possible to create a piece of art within a virtual environment, directly with the controllers. However, these devices do not allow to touch the virtual material as a sculptor would do. To tackle this issue we investigate in this paper the use of a tangible surface that could be used in virtual reality setups. We designed a low-cost prototype composed of two layers of sensors in order to measure a wide range of pressure. We also propose two mapping techniques to fit our device to a virtual 3D mesh to be sculpted. Participants of an informal test were asked to reproduce a pattern on three meshes: a plane, a sphere and a teapot. They succeeded in this task, showing the potential of our approach.

Haptic Material: A Holistic Approach for Haptic Texture Mapping

In this paper, we propose a new format for haptic texture mapping which is not dependent on the haptic rendering setup hardware. Our “haptic material” format encodes ten elementary haptic features in dedicated maps, similarly to “materials” used in computer graphics. These ten different features enable the expression of compliance, surface geometry and friction attributes through vibratory, cutaneous and kinesthetic cues, as well as thermal rendering. The diversity of haptic data allows various hardware to share this single format, each of them selecting which features to render depending on its capabilities.

A playback tool for reviewing VR experiences

Designing a VR content is a challenging task due to the complexity of the analysis of a users experience. We propose a tool allowing a reviewer to record a users movements when consuming a VR content, and to playback this experience. During the playback, the reviewer can visualize in real-time the visible objects to the user (within the field of view) or the interactive ones (within the workspace). Besides, the field of view and workspace of numerous devices can be simulated in order to predict how the content would fit. In the demonstration, a user is first invited to experience a VR scene. Then the recorded experience can be played back from a reviewers point of view.

Enabling embodiment and interaction in omnidirectional videos

This paper investigates the role of the embodiment in an immersive video experience. A system allowing to play back omnidirectional videos enhanced with real-time 3D content is presented. It enables the user to be embodied in an avatar and to interact with 3D objects added to the video. A user study was conducted to understand the impact of this embodiment on the user experience. Four different avatars were compared (none, human, ghost and astronaut) as well as three levels of user control on the avatar, and also the possibility to interact with the content. Results show that being embodied has benefits on the user experience but requires the representation to be in line with the story and the avatar to be fully controllable. Indeed a misadapted embodiment may decrease the experience.

Texture Rendering on a Tactile Surface Using Extended Elastic Images and Example-Based Audio Cues

A texture rendering system relying on pseudo-haptic and audio feedback is presented in this paper. While the user touches the texture displayed on a tactile screen, the associated image is deformed according to the contact area and the rubbing motion to simulate pressure. Additionally audio feedback is synthesized in real-time to simulate friction. A novel example-based scheme takes advantage of recorded audio samples of friction between actual textures and a finger at several speeds to synthesize the final output sound. This system can be implemented on any existing tactile screen without any extra mechanical device.