Yuki Ban

Augmented perception of satiety: controlling food consumption by changing apparent size of food with augmented reality

The main contribution of this paper is to realize a method for modifying perception of satiety and controlling nutritional intake by changing the apparent size of food with augmented reality. As a possible method for decreasing rates of obesity, we focused on controlling food intake implicitly without any effort. We hypothesized that ambiguous perception of satiety can be applied to control our food intake. Recent psychological studies have revealed that the amount of food consumed is influenced by both its actual volume and external factors during eating. Based on this knowledge, we sought to control perception of satiety gained from the same amount of food by changing its apparent size. We also proposed a method for food-volume augmentation using real-time shape deformation. Our results suggest that this augmentation can control the perception of satiety and food intake.

Modifying an identified curved surface shape using pseudo-haptic effect

In our research, we aim to construct a visuo-haptic system that can provide users with the sensation of touching virtual objects of varying shapes, using pseudo-haptic effects. In this paper, we focus on modifying the identification of a shape of a curved surface when touching it with a pointing finger, by displacing the visual representation of the users hand. We compose a video see-through system through which we can change the shapes of objects the user is visually touching, and displace the visual representation of the users hand as if he were touching the visual shape although in actuality he is touching another shape. Using this system we perform an experiment to investigate the effects of visuo-haptic interaction and we evaluate its effectiveness. The results show that over 80% of the participants answered that they perceived the virtual objects shape to be different from the actual shape they touched, which proves the possibility for constructing a novel visuo-haptic system.

Modifying an identified angle of edged shapes using pseudo-haptic effects

In this paper, we focus on modifying the identification of an angle of edges when touching it with a pointing finger, by displacing the visual representation of the users hand in order to construct a novel visuo-haptic system. We compose a video see-through system, which enables us to change the perception of the shape of an object a user is visually touching, by displacing the visual representation of the users hand as if s/he was touching the visual shape, when in actuality s/he is touching another shape. We had experiments and showed participants perceived angles of edges that was the same as the one they were visually touching, even though the angles of edges they were actually touching was different. These results prove that the perceived angles of edges could be modified if the difference of angles between edges is in the range of −35° to 30°.

Augmented endurance: controlling fatigue while handling objects by affecting weight perception using augmented reality

The main contribution of this paper is to develop a method for alleviating fatigue during handling medium-weight objects and augmenting our endurance by affecting our weight perception with augmented reality technology. To assist people to lift medium-weight objects without a complex structure or various costs, we focus on the phenomenon that our weight perception during handling objects is affected by visual properties. Our hypothesis is that this illusionary effect in weight perception can be applied to reduce fatigue while handling medium-weight objects without mechatronics-based physical assistance. In this paper, we propose an augmented reality system that changes the brightness value of an object in order to reduce fatigue while handling the object. We conducted two fundamental experiments to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Our results suggested that the system eliminates the need to use excess energy for handling objects and reduces fatigue during the handling task.

Unlimited corridor: redirected walking techniques using visuo haptic interaction

The main contribution is to realize an efficient redirected working (RDW) technique by utilizing haptic cues for strongly modifying our spatial perception. Some research has shown that users can be redirected on a circular arc with a radius of at least 22 m without being able to detect the inconsistency by showing a straight path in the virtual world. However, this is still too large to enable the presentation of a demonstration in a restricted space. Although most of RDW techniques only used visual stimuli, we recognize space with multi-modalities. Therefore, we propose an RDW method using the visuo-haptic interaction, and develop the system, which displays a visual representation of a flat wall and users virtually walk straight along it, although, in reality, users walk along a convex surface wall with touching it. For the demonstration, we develop the algorithm, with which we can modify the amount of distortion dynamically to make a user walk straight infinity and turn a branch freely. With this system, multiple users can walk an endless corridor in a virtual environment at the same time.

Curvature manipulation techniques in redirection using haptic cues

This paper proposes a method for improving the effects of redirected walking (RDW) by using haptic cues, particularly for the discrimination of path curvature. Some research has shown that users can be redirected on a circular arc with a radius of at least 22 m without being able to detect the inconsistency by showing a straight path in the virtual world. However, this is still too large to enable the presentation of a demonstration in a restricted space. We develop an RDW system, which displays a visual representation of a flat wall and users virtually walk straight along it although, in reality, users walk along a convex surface wall with touching it. Using this system, we conduct an experiment, and the results show that our method reduced the amount of perceived curvature in RDW down to 62% as compared to an only visual method.

Affecting Our Perception of Satiety by Changing the Size of Virtual Dishes Displayed with a Tabletop Display

In this paper, we propose a tabletop system for affecting our perception of satiety and controlling energy intakes by controlling a size of a projected image around the food. We hypothesized that ambiguous perception of satiety can be applied to control our food intake. Given that estimating portion size is often a relative judgment, apparent food volume is assessed according to the size of neighboring objects such as many cutleries. Especially, the effect of the size of dish on food intake has been debated. Based on the knowledge, we constructed a tabletop system which projects virtual dishes around the food on it, in order to change the assessed apparent food volume interactively. Our results suggest that the size of virtual dish change the perception of satiety and the amount of food consumption.

Displaying shapes with various types of surfaces using visuo-haptic interaction

In this paper, we proposed a visuo-haptic system for displaying various shapes which have curve, edge, and inclined surfaces, using a simple transmutative physical device and the effect of visuo-haptic interaction. We aim to construct a perception-based shape display system to provide users with the sensation of touching virtual objects of varying shapes using only a simple mechanism. We have confirmed that the perception of each primitive shape such as curvature and angle could be modified by displacing a users hand image on the monitor as if s/he were touching the visual shape while actually touching another shape. In this study, we constructed the method to merge these findings for displaying more various shapes, including angular ones. We built a transmutative device, which the user touches. The device does not undergo significant transformation, but its surface can be slightly bumped in and out, and displayed various shapes with various angles, length and curvature. The results of experimental trials confirmed that our method for displaying each primitive shape can also worked as designed when we combine these findings to display more complex objects using this device which transforms slightly.

Controlling fatigue while lifting objects using Pseudo-haptics in a mixed reality space

In this paper, we aim to compose a mixed reality (MR) weight display system without the use of complex structures. We realize this system by modifying the visual movement of a handled object to evoke the Pseudo-haptic effect. To apply the system to an MR space, we introduce a method to compensate for the difference between the position of the actual object and the position of the presented image that occurs by modifying the visual movement. Furthermore, we investigate how this system affects the physiological reaction of the user by implementing the proposed method to control fatigue during object lifting. The results suggest that the system effectively eliminates the need for excess energy use and reduces fatigue during object lifting.

Modifying Perceived Size of a Handled Object through Hand Image Deformation

In this study, we aim to construct a perception-based shape display system to provide users with the sensation of touching virtual objects of varying shapes using only a simple mechanism. Thus far, we have proved that identified curved surface shapes or edge angles can be modified by displacing the visual representation of the users hand. However, using this method, we cannot emulate multifinger touch, because of spatial unconformity. To solve this problem, we focus on modifying the identification of shapes using two fingers by deforming the visual representation of the users hand. We devised a video see-through system that enables us to change the perceived shape of an object that a user is touching visually. The visual representation of the users hand is deformed as if the user were handling a visual object; however, the user is actually handling an object of a different shape. Using this system, we conducted two experiments to investigate the effects of visuo-haptic interaction and evaluate its effectiveness. One is an investigation on the modification of size perception to confirm that the fingers did not stroke the shape but only touched it statically. The other is an investigation on the modification of shape perception for confirming that the fingers dynamically stroked the surface of the shape. The results of these experiments show that the perceived sizes of objects handled using a thumb and other finger(s) could be modified if the difference between the size of physical and visual stimuli was in the −40% to 35% range. In addition, we found that the algorithm can create an effect of shape perception modification when users stroke the shape with multiple fingers.