Taku Hachisu

Vibration Feedback Latency Affects Material Perception During Rod Tapping Interactions

We investigated the effect of vibration feedback latency on material perception during a tapping interaction using a rod device. When a user taps a surface, the perception of the material can be modulated by providing a decaying sinusoidal vibration at the moment of contact. To achieve this haptic material augmentation on a touchscreen, a system that can measure the approach velocity and provide vibration with low latency is required. To this end, we developed a touchscreen system that is capable of measuring the approach velocity and providing vibration feedback via a rod device with latency of 0.1 ms. Using this system, we experimentally measured the human detection threshold of the vibration feedback latency adopting a psychophysical approach. We further investigated the effect of latency on the perception of the material using a subjective questionnaire. Results show that the threshold was around 5.5 ms and the latency made the user feel that the surface is soft. In addition, users reported bouncing and denting sensations induced by the latency.

HapTONE: haptic instrument for enriched musical play

This paper describes a novel music entertainment system that draws on auditory, tactile and visual senses. HapTONE presents players with high-fidelity vibrotactile sensations, not only after pressing the keyboard but also during the pressing operation itself. We developed keyboard type instrument that composed of key unit which is structured a vibrator and a distance sensor. This instrument reproduces the touch sensation of a keyboard, stringed, wind, percussion or non-musical instrument. We describe three applications of HapTONE that include: 1) the accurate replication of percussion instruments; 2) playing of pseudo-stringed instruments, and 3) synchronized vibration with animation. HapTONE is a musical entertainment system for players themselves using auditory, tactile and visual senses.

Perceptual Force on the Wrist Under the Hanger Reflex and Vibration

The hanger reflex is a phenomenon that accompanies illusory force sensation and involuntary head rotation when the head is fastened with a wire hanger. This phenomenon is also observed on the wrist, and is expected to apply when using small and simple haptic feedback devices. However, issues of slow response and the requirement for large actuators still remain. Here, we discuss the discovery of a new phenomenon: the perceptual force from the hanger reflex is enhanced when a vibration is also presented. If we can control the strength of the perceptual force induced by vibration, a smaller, simpler, and higher response device might be achieved, because a vibrator can be controlled easily. This paper reports details of this phenomenon, and the effect of the frequency and amplitude of the vibration on the strength of the perceptual force. We observed that low frequency 50---100i?źHz vibrations efficiently enhanced the perceptual force, and that participants perceived a stronger perceptual force if the vibration of a greater amplitude was presented. These results suggest that the enhancement of the perceptual force is controllable and can be applied to construct a new type of wearable haptic device.

Sole Tactile Display Using Tactile Illusion by Vibration on Toenail

We present a novel wearable device for producing tactile sensations to a foot sole while walking. As a method for that, we extended on a tactile illusion in a finger. This illusion can provide tactile sensations in the finger pad when a vibrator is connected to a finger nail and the finger pad is in contact with surface. We applied such kind of tactile illusion to the foot. Following our approach, we developed a prototype of sole tactile display. Our prototype provides two applications. One application is improving the user’s motivation of walking by superimposing ground texture. Another application is supporting stable walking by presenting tactile sensations. By combining these applications, user can walk happily and safely.

HapTONE: Haptic Instrument for Enriched Musical Play (II)—System Detail

We developed a novel musical entertainment system ‘HapTONE’ that draws on auditory, tactile, and visual senses. HapTONE presents players with high-fidelity vibrotactile sensations, not only after a key on pressing the keyboard but also during the actual process of pressing the key itself. HapTONE is composed of eight key units that is composed of a vibrator and a distance sensor. This instrument reproduces the touch sensation of a keyboard and stringed, wind, percussion or non-musical instruments. We also developed some applications using HapTONE, which were exhibited at the computer graphics and interactive techniques conference ‘SIGGRAPH 2016’. In this paper, we describe the system details of HapTONE that enable accurate, low-latency feedback and easy expansion.

WholeGrip: grip type master hand with the whole hand tactile feedback

For the intuitive manipulation of teleoperating robot hand and virtual avatar hand (slave hand), tactile feedback is essential. This is especially true when the slave hand interacts with virtual or real objects. Many manipulation devices (master hand) with tactile feedback functionality have been developed [Sato et al., 2007][Sato, 2002][Endo et al., 2009], but the following issues remain to be solved.

Tactile Apparent Motion Through Human-Human Physical Touch

We investigate the effects of vibrotactile feedback from a hand of a partner as a medium of vibration propagation. By controlling the vibrotactile feedback provided on wrists, a tactile apparent motion can be induced between hands of a pair holding each other. Two experiments were conducted to demonstrate the tactile apparent motion. In the first experiment, we measured intensity of the vibration propagated from a bracelet device on the wrist to the hand. The result shows that the vibration on one hand is perceivable by the other person. In the second experiment, we measured the range of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) that induces a continuous motion between the hands under a constant duration of vibration (d). The psychophysical experiment shows that the tactile apparent motion is observed when (d, SOA) is around either (120, 80) or (240, 120) milliseconds. The paper discusses the present results in a context of augmenting awareness of touch communication describing our future direction of the research.

FaceLooks: A Smart Headband for Signaling Face-to-Face Behavior

Eye-to-eye contact and facial expressions are key communicators, yet there has been little done to evaluate the basic properties of face-to-face; mutual head orientation behaviors. This may be because there is no practical device available to measure the behavior. This paper presents a novel headband-type wearable device called FaceLooks, used for measuring the time of the face-to-face state with identity of the partner, using an infrared emitter and receiver. It can also be used for behavioral healthcare applications, such as for children with developmental disorders who exhibit difficulties with the behavior, by providing awareness through the visual feedback from the partner’s device. Two laboratory experiments showed the device’s detection range and response time, tested with a pair of dummy heads. Another laboratory experiment was done with human participants with gaze trackers and showed the device’s substantial agreement with a human observer. We then conducted two field studies involving children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders. The first study showed that the devices could be used in the school setting, observing the children did not remove the devices. The second study showed that the durations of children’s face-to-face behavior could be increased under a visual feedback condition. The device shows its potential to be used in therapy and experimental fields because of its wearability and its ability to quantify and shape face-to-face behavior.

Characteristics of illusory vibration in the toe pad induced by vibration applied to toenail and toe force to surface

We present a novel method for providing a tactile sensations using a tactile illusion in the toe pad during gait. Our method extends an illusion previously described in the finger pad, in which tactile sensations were induced when a vibration was presented to the fingernail while the finger pad was in contact with a surface. In Preliminary test, we qualitatively confirmed that the illusion could be induced in the toe pad with a certain level of intensity of vibration and toe force applied to the surface. In Experiment, we quantitatively measured the minimum force for inducing the illusion with constant vibration intensity using a psychophysical approach. The results revealed that an average force of 326 gf was required to induce the illusion. In addition, informal testing suggested that force was negatively correlated with the temperature of the toe pad.

Asian CHI Symposium: Emerging HCI Research Collection

This symposium showcases the latest work from Japan and Southeast Asia on interactive systems and user interfaces that address under-explored problems and demonstrate unique approaches. In addition to circulating ideas and sharing a vision of future research in human-computer interaction, this symposium aims to foster social networks among young researchers and students and create a fresh research community.