How to set up vibration on Android - step by step instructions. Tactile contact is the secret weapon for harmonious relationships

Manufacturers computer equipment focused on improving displays and audio systems, since most information is perceived visually or auditorily. Meanwhile, the tactile communication channel remains practically unused. Vibration game steering wheel and joysticks don't count. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology decided to correct this annoying omission. The “haptic display” they are developing could change the way we interact with a computer.

The matrix of such a “display” is capable of using numerous skin receptors, the total surface area of ​​which in an adult is about two square meters. The main mounting options are on the back (corset) and on the wrist, in the form of a bracelet.

The active elements of the “display”, depending on the application scenario, can be represented by vibration motors or skin electrodes. The option with placement on the back is quite original. Perhaps no one has ever tried to connect a person to a computer backwards. Users receive a free massage and prevention of back muscle fatigue, and players will learn to literally feel the enemy with their back... or the place where they decide to attach the device.

The average number of receptors on different parts of the body surface varies greatly. Most of them are on the palms, lips and tongue (this is why children grab everything with their hands and pull them into their mouths, learning about the world around them). There are slightly fewer of them on the soles and very few on the front, back and lateral surfaces of the body. Together they form a group of receptive fields, reflected in the somatosensory cortex of the cerebral hemispheres. The overall picture is often represented in terms of a sensory homunculus, in which the sizes of different anatomical regions are proportional to the number of receptors in them.

The low density of tactile receptors on the back is compensated by large area and the easy accessibility of this area. Vibration motors or skin electrodes can be made relatively large, and a corset with them will not interfere with movement and can easily be hidden under clothing.

Lynette Jones, a senior researcher in the Department of Instrumentation Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sees navigation systems with haptic feedback as the main application of this development. Unlike traditional options, they will not distract the driver, since they do not require looking at the screen and do not bother with voice prompts. Their work is not visible at all from the outside, and for the passenger it will remain a mystery how the driver navigates so deftly in an unfamiliar place. Previously, a simpler option in the form of vibration attachments for the steering wheel was proposed by researchers from the University of Utah.

A simplified version of such navigation with tactile cues without any electronics could be seen earlier in army exercises. It is extremely difficult for a hastily trained driver to navigate in infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers due to limited visibility. Therefore, a colleague who was looking out of the hatch put his feet on his shoulders. When it was necessary to turn right, he simply kicked the driver with his right foot, the harder the sharper the turn was required. Compared to a GPS navigator, its voice guidance was exceptionally expressive and timely.

In addition to turns, the driver needs to communicate other information, which will require more than two signal sources to encode using the “tactile alphabet”. One of the previously implemented options was the tactical belt of the robot operator, which allows you to “feel” it due to eight vibration motors.

To study the optimal layout active elements Lynette Jones made several options from an array of accelerometers and vibration motors from cell phones. They were attached to the back, hips and forearms at different distances.

During the experiment, subjects were asked to indicate from how many sources and where exactly they felt the impact. These data were used to assess how well people are able to recognize precise locations and what the optimal number of active elements is.

The vibration of the edge motors was most accurately indicated during testing, and the wrist area predictably turned out to be the most sensitive. According to data from accelerometers, skin vibration died out within a radius of eight millimeters from the impact zone, but the subjects themselves often felt it three times further away.

This suggests that there is no point in reducing the size of the device. If there is less than two and a half centimeters between two tactile impulses, then most users will make mistakes in determining their localization.

In addition to the density of receptors, the characteristics of the “tactile display” are limited by the damping ability of the skin, which depends mainly on the amount of subcutaneous fatty tissue. In the area of ​​the forearms, its severity is usually minimal, so the bracelets showed generally better results.

The simplest option in the form of two bracelets already provides at least four points of influence - on the inside and outside of the wrist. Add to this vibration with different strengths and frequencies, and you get a kind of coding system. Similar developments were previously carried out in Germany.

By connecting the “haptic display” to a smartphone via Bluetooth, both its use and hiking are simplified. For example, it is easy to set the direction to a selected object by simply changing the signal level on both hands. At the same time, it becomes possible to more flexibly notify about incoming calls and messages. Do you set individual ringtones for each contact or group? Now the same can be done with vibration.

According to Roberta Klatzky, professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, Lynette's work has a chance of developing the whole system tactile alphabet, which will become great addition to Braille for blind people. In the future, wearable “haptic displays” can be easily adapted for use with most devices, as well as when paired with bionic eyes.

  • Translation

Tactile feedback has already been present in gadgets for a very long time. long time. Most often it is presented in smartphones and joysticks game consoles in the form of “vibration alerts” and response vibration in response to user actions. Duplicating incoming calls, reminders and shaking when shooting and explosions are the most common uses of the haptic function. And the vast majority of users cannot imagine any other way to use this communication channel.

However, there are several directions for using this method of interaction and obtaining information from devices. More precisely, there are three of these directions. And their widespread use in mass electronics will give users high-quality new experience using seemingly familiar gadgets. This will mark the beginning of a new stage in development consumer devices, aptly called the "neosensory era".

The first way to use tactile feedback is to expand the range of tactile sensations from using gadgets. The second method is the transfer of specific template information. The third way is communication. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Expanding the range of tactile sensations

Amazon recently released five new devices, two e-ink readers and three tablets. And most interesting device is a premium Kindle Voyage reader.

What's so special about her? On both sides of the screen, whose surface has a paper-like texture, there are touch zones for turning pages. Moreover, the flipping itself is initiated not by the usual touch or sliding gesture, but light compression these sensory areas. When a page is “turned,” the device produces a vibration similar to what occurs when paper pages slide over each other.

By the way, in first YotaPhone We also experimented with tactile feedback when using the touch zone under the second screen. When turning pages using a swipe gesture, the smartphone vibrates pleasantly. The second YotaPhone will have a fully touchscreen second screen, which gives much more options. Therefore, we have developed completely new scenarios for using the second screen, which you will learn about after the presentation of the smartphone.

Another example of a new approach to the use of tactile communication is demonstrated by Apple iWatch, which will go on sale next year. They integrate the so-called “Taptic engine” (a combination of words tap(touch) and haptic(tactile)), a kind of physical response system to user actions. For example, when you turn the winding crown, you immediately feel a specific vibration, as if dancing along your wrist, adding an unusual sensation when using this mechanical control. When you swipe the screen, press a button next to the head, or perform some other action, the Taptic engine generates specific tactile responses, accompanying the level sensations.

The sworn Apple's friend, Samsung. Koreans recently presented a series multifunction printers Smart MultiXpress, equipped with a “tablet” interface with a variety of tactile communication.

All of these aforementioned devices take advantage of a new direction in engineering called haptography(haptic+ photography, can be translated as “tactylography”). It involves registering and recording physical sensations with subsequent playback. In fact, this direction is at the very beginning of its formation. With him further development, users will have access to a new dimension in interaction with gadgets. For example, we will be able to feel the surface texture of objects that we see on the screen or hear from the speakers. Modern lifeless displays of smartphones and tablets will come to life and will literally respond to touch. All types of interfaces, from dashboards cars to refrigerator doors and remote controls will begin to “touch in response” to our touches. And this tactile “responsiveness” will be almost mesmerizing.

Transmission of specific template information

IN Apple watch iWatch also implements a mechanism for transmitting specific template information. For example, if you're following a route in a mapping app, the watch will alert you to turn by vibrating on the right or left side, so you don't even have to look at the screen.

New hybrid car Mercedes S550 will transmit tactile information by vibration of the floor under the driver's feet. For example, in this way the car will prompt you to slow down the gas in order to save fuel or battery charge. Another type of vibration will notify the driver of the switch from an electric motor to an internal combustion engine.

Wearable devices like smart glasses(which, unlike Google's product, will look like regular glasses) will vibrate faintly, alerting the user when any specific information comes into view.

Communication

Perhaps communication with people is one of the most interesting ways application of tactile feedback. And here we have to mention the Apple iWatch again. If you select someone's contact from your favorites list and then touch the screen, that person will feel that touch through the specific vibration of their Apple iWatch. You can even send your heartbeat to another person, where the sender and recipient will see a pulsating heart on their screens and both will feel its rhythm on their wrists. By the way, perhaps in the Russian language, over time, such a vocabulary phrase as “I can smell for hours” will appear.

This idea is also used in many startups, for example, in the Tactilu bracelet, which transfers “touch” from one user to another.

Of course, this feature will soon be introduced into smartphones. Perhaps it will even come to the standardization of some kind of “tactile protocol”. Surely there will be custom vibration patterns, similar to ringtones for calls and SMS, so you can understand who is calling you simply by the specific vibration selected for this contact.

The most amazing thing about this prospect is not at all the indulgence of lazy users who do not even want to look at the phone screen, but in a new psychological experience, somewhat reminiscent of telepathy, when in the first moments, even unconsciously, you suddenly “feel” the attention of another person.

How haptic feedback improves the user experience

We are now at the very beginning of the “neosensory era.” It is very likely that within a couple of years, the vast majority of gadgets will have a built-in function for extremely plausible tactile feedback. We will find ourselves in a situation where user expectations will encourage manufacturers to integrate high-quality tactile interfaces into all the new gadgets.

The new trend will be especially pronounced in wearable gadgets. It is possible that devices will appear that will have no interface at all other than a tactile one - neither touch-graphic nor mechanical. Interfaces like these will add depth, completeness, and quite literally a good feel to computers, phones, tablets, and wearable devices, including cars and various Appliances. In part, this will provide purely utilitarian advantages, but mainly we will be attracted by the psychological, aesthetic moment.

What if we add to all kinds of vibration a change in the texture of the gadget’s surface? You can not only get some kind of active reaction to your actions, it can already be fully described as “I feel it with my skin.”
Perhaps the greatest variety of applications for haptic feedback will be seen in smartphones, simply because of their versatility and constant demand by users.

Imagine you're watching a movie, a scene in the desert, and your smartphone feels like it's made of compressed sand. Or your loved one will write to you that he touched the glass of a window, and you begin to feel the smoothness and hardness of its surface. Paper, wood, glass, concrete, sand, all this can not only be “touched”, our brain will receive much more more information about the situation, and almost on an unconscious level we understand and empathize much more deeply with other people, the plots of books, films, games, television news, even songs.

Interesting prospects are opening up for users who actively correspond with smartphones. For different users In the contact list, in social networks and instant messengers, you can configure not only different vibration patterns, but also changes in surface texture. And when typing a message to someone, you won’t have to be distracted to see who has already written to you. Different tactile schemes can be created even for different emoticons, thus conveying the sensations of smile, laughter, sadness, anger and many other emotions.

It is very likely that they may appear replacement panels for smartphones, hard or in the form of soft, thin, tight-fitting cases, capable of changing the texture of their surface differently. Naturally, for YotaPhone they will be completely transparent, allowing you to work with touch screens. In this case, the vibration circuits may be different depending on what YotaPhone screen you work in this moment. A real haven for kinesthetic gourmets.

There will be programs that allow you to create your own vibration circuits and texture changing algorithms. And if today we show each other photographs taken on a smartphone, then it is possible that in 15 years we will invite each other to simply hold them.

We won’t be surprised if many users subconsciously begin to perceive their smartphones as living pets, because they will not only react sensitively to our actions, but also show “their own emotions.”

We believe that in two decades, most gadgets and devices will be equipped with tactile user interfaces. At least we really hope so.

  • Translation

Tactile feedback has been present in gadgets for a very long time. Most often it is presented in smartphones and joysticks of game consoles in the form of “vibrate alerts” and response vibration in response to user actions. Duplicating incoming calls, reminders and shaking when shooting and explosions are the most common uses of the haptic function. And the vast majority of users cannot imagine any other way to use this communication channel.

However, there are several directions for using this method of interaction and obtaining information from devices. More precisely, there are three of these directions. And their widespread use in mass electronics will give users a qualitatively new experience of using seemingly familiar gadgets. This will mark the beginning of a new phase in the development of consumer devices, aptly called the "neo-touch era".

The first way to use tactile feedback is to expand the range of tactile sensations from using gadgets. The second method is the transfer of specific template information. The third way is communication. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Expanding the range of tactile sensations

Amazon recently released five new devices, two e-ink readers and three tablets. And the most interesting device is the premium e-reader Kindle Voyage.

What's so special about her? On both sides of the screen, whose surface has a paper-like texture, there are touch zones for turning pages. Moreover, the flipping itself is initiated not by the usual touch or sliding gesture, but light compression these sensory areas. When a page is “turned,” the device produces a vibration similar to what occurs when paper pages slide over each other.

By the way, in the first YotaPhone we also experimented with tactile feedback when using the touch zone under the second screen. When turning pages using a swipe gesture, the smartphone vibrates pleasantly. The second YotaPhone will have a fully touchscreen second screen, which gives much more options. Therefore, we have developed completely new scenarios for using the second screen, which you will learn about after the presentation of the smartphone.

Another example of a new approach to the use of haptic communication is demonstrated by the Apple iWatch, which will go on sale next year. They integrate the so-called “Taptic engine” (a combination of words tap(touch) and haptic(tactile)), a kind of physical response system to user actions. For example, when you turn the winding crown, you immediately feel a specific vibration, as if dancing along your wrist, adding an unusual sensation when using this mechanical control. When you swipe the screen, press a button next to the head, or perform some other action, the Taptic engine generates specific tactile responses, accompanying the level sensations.

Apple's sworn friend, Samsung, did not remain aloof from the new direction. The Koreans recently introduced a series of multifunctional printers Smart MultiXpress, equipped with a “tablet” interface with a variety of tactile communications.

All of these aforementioned devices take advantage of a new direction in engineering called haptography(haptic+ photography, can be translated as “tactylography”). It involves registering and recording physical sensations with subsequent playback. In fact, this direction is at the very beginning of its formation. With its further development, a new dimension in interaction with gadgets will become available to users. For example, we will be able to feel the surface texture of objects that we see on the screen or hear from the speakers. Modern lifeless displays of smartphones and tablets will come to life and will literally respond to touch. All kinds of interfaces, from car dashboards to refrigerator doors and remote controls, will begin to “touch in response” to our touch. And this tactile “responsiveness” will be almost mesmerizing.

Transmission of specific template information

The Apple iWatch also implements a mechanism for transmitting specific template information. For example, if you're following a route in a mapping app, the watch will alert you to turn by vibrating on the right or left side, so you don't even have to look at the screen.

The new Mercedes S550 hybrid car will transmit tactile information using floor vibrations under the driver's feet. For example, in this way the car will prompt you to slow down the gas in order to save fuel or battery charge. Another type of vibration will notify the driver of the switch from an electric motor to an internal combustion engine.

Wearable devices like smart glasses (which, unlike Google's product, will look like regular glasses) will vibrate gently to alert the user when specific information comes into view.

Communication

Perhaps communicating with people is one of the most interesting ways to use tactile feedback. And here we have to mention the Apple iWatch again. If you select someone's contact from your favorites list and then touch the screen, that person will feel that touch through the specific vibration of their Apple iWatch. You can even send your heartbeat to another person, where the sender and recipient will see a pulsating heart on their screens and both will feel its rhythm on their wrists. By the way, perhaps in the Russian language, over time, such a vocabulary phrase as “I can smell for hours” will appear.

This idea is also used in many startups, for example, in the Tactilu bracelet, which transfers “touch” from one user to another.

Of course, this feature will soon be introduced into smartphones. Perhaps it will even come to the standardization of some kind of “tactile protocol”. Surely there will be custom vibration patterns, similar to ringtones for calls and SMS, so you can understand who is calling you simply by the specific vibration selected for this contact.

The most amazing thing about this prospect is not at all the indulgence of lazy users who do not even want to look at the phone screen, but in a new psychological experience, somewhat reminiscent of telepathy, when in the first moments, even unconsciously, you suddenly “feel” the attention of another person.

How haptic feedback improves the user experience

We are now at the very beginning of the “neosensory era.” It is very likely that within a couple of years, the vast majority of gadgets will have a built-in function for extremely plausible tactile feedback. We will end up in a situation where user expectations drive manufacturers to integrate high-quality haptic interfaces into all new gadgets.

The new trend will be especially pronounced in wearable gadgets. It is possible that devices will appear that will have no interface at all other than a tactile one - neither touch-graphic nor mechanical. Interfaces like these will add depth, completeness, and quite literally a good feel to computers, phones, tablets, and wearable devices, including cars and various household appliances. In part, this will provide purely utilitarian advantages, but mainly we will be attracted by the psychological, aesthetic moment.

What if we add to all kinds of vibration a change in the texture of the gadget’s surface? You can not only get some kind of active reaction to your actions, it can already be fully described as “I feel it with my skin.”
Perhaps the greatest variety of applications for haptic feedback will be seen in smartphones, simply because of their versatility and constant demand by users.

Imagine you're watching a movie, a scene in the desert, and your smartphone feels like it's made of compressed sand. Or your loved one will write to you that he touched the glass of a window, and you begin to feel the smoothness and hardness of its surface. Paper, wood, glass, concrete, sand, all this can not only be “touched”, our brain will receive much more information about the situation, and almost at an unconscious level we will understand and empathize much more deeply with other people, the plots of books, films, games , television news, even songs.

Interesting prospects are opening up for users who actively correspond with smartphones. For different users in the contact list, in social networks and instant messengers, it will be possible to configure not only different vibration patterns, but also changes in surface texture. And when typing a message to someone, you won’t have to be distracted to see who has already written to you. It will be possible to create different tactile schemes even for different emoticons, thus conveying the sensations of smiling, laughter, sadness, anger and many other emotions.

It is very likely that replacement panels for smartphones may appear, either hard or in the form of soft, thin, form-fitting cases, capable of changing the texture of their surface in a different way. Naturally, for YotaPhone they will be completely transparent, allowing you to work with touch screens. At the same time, the vibration circuits may be different depending on which YotaPhone screen you are working with at the moment. A real haven for kinesthetic gourmets.

There will be programs that allow you to create your own vibration circuits and texture changing algorithms. And if today we show each other photographs taken on a smartphone, then it is possible that in 15 years we will invite each other to simply hold them.

We won’t be surprised if many users subconsciously begin to perceive their smartphones as living pets, because they will not only react sensitively to our actions, but also show “their own emotions.”

We believe that in two decades, most gadgets and devices will be equipped with tactile user interfaces. At least we really hope so.

  • 2.3.1. Display methods
  • 4.3.2. Display Device Classes and Examples
  • 2.3.2. Movement in virtual space
  • 2.3.3. Methods of issuing commands
  • 2.3.4. Touch glove and haptic feedback
  • 2.3.5. VR sound support
  • 2.3.6. A generalized version of the equipment to support VR
  • 2.4. VR systems vfx 1 and vfx 3d
  • 2.5. Haptic Workstation
  • 2.6. Areas and prospects for the use of VR media
  • 2.7. Combined information environments with advanced capabilities
  • 2.7.1. Interactive mind games
  • 4.6.2. Performance animation
  • 4.6.3. Modeling and synthesis of visual dynamic images of virtual people
  • 4.6.4. Interactive intellectual activities with alternative scenarios
  • 2.8. Control questions
  • Chapter 3. Creating multimedia products goals
  • 3.1. Classification and scope of multimedia applications
  • 3.1.1. Classification of multimedia applications
  • 3.1.2. Application areas of multimedia applications
  • 3.2. Software tools for creating and editing multimedia elements
  • 3.2.1. Programs for creating and editing text and hypertext
  • 3.2.2. Programs for creating and editing graphics
  • 3.2.3. Sound creation and editing programs
  • 3.2.4. Programs for creating and editing 3D graphics and animation
  • 3.2.5. Video creation and editing programs
  • 3.2.6. Programs for creating and editing interactive 3D representations
  • 3.3. Stages and technologies of creating multimedia products
  • 3.3.1. Main stages and stages of development of mm products
  • 3.3.2. Text and hypertext support technologies mind
  • 3.3.3. Technologies for using graphics
  • 3.3.4. Technologies for using audio components
  • 3.3.5. Technologies supporting animation and 3D graphics
  • 3.3.6. Video creation and support technologies
  • 3.3.7. Technologies for creating and supporting interactive 3D views
  • 3.4. Multimedia publications on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM
  • 3.5. Toolkit integrated environments for developers of multimedia products
  • 3.5.1. Types of mm product development software
  • 3.5.2. Specialized programs
  • 3.5.3. Authoring systems
  • 3.5.4. Programming language support tools
  • 3.5.5. Problems of creating mm xo
  • 3.5.6. Directions and means of adapting mm KSO to the capabilities and characteristics of the user
  • 3.6. Control questions
  • Chapter 4. Application of multimedia technologies in education goals
  • 4.1. Educational environment and its resources
  • 4.1.1. Basic concepts of the educational environment
  • 4.1.2. Classification of educational resources
  • 4.1.3. Classification of electronic educational resources
  • 4.1.4. Classification of computer training software
  • 4.2. Features of the use of multimedia technologies in educational systems
  • 4.2.1. New ways of working with information
  • 4.2.2. Expanding the capabilities of illustrations
  • 4.2.3. Interactivity
  • 4.2.4. Selectivity of perception and learning
  • 4.2.5. Activation of trainees
  • 4.2.6. Intensification of learning processes.
  • 4.3. Examples of implementation of training systems using mm technologies
  • 4.4. Control questions
  • Glossary for Module 2
  • Conclusion
  • List of abbreviations
  • Bibliography
  • Table of contents
  • Chapter 2. Virtual reality and other combined environments 7
  • Chapter 3. Creating multimedia products 77
  • Chapter 4. Application of multimedia technologies in education 137
  • Part 2. Virtual reality, creation of multimedia products, application of multimedia technologies in education
  • 2.3.3. Methods of issuing commands

    In addition to specifying the position of an object in three-dimensional space, it is also desirable to be able to give commands, which must be performed at certain points. To issue commands, it is easiest to use a regular computer keyboard and a familiar on-screen menu system, but it is better to use a set of buttons on a “floating mouse” type position sensor.

    The microphone and headphones of the video helmet can be connected to a sound generator and to a speech recognition and synthesis system. In a synthetic reality environment, in principle, you can even use a virtual keyboard and control the entire process of working through it using a touch glove. But it is still easier and simpler for a person to use his speech channel to give commands, and computer system Speech input today can already be “trained” to recognize tens of thousands of words with fairly high reliability.

    2.3.4. Touch glove and haptic feedback

    Touch glove. Direct tracking hand movements has long been of great interest to many developers. For example, in 1983 the Digital Entry Glove device was patented. But the real breakthrough was the DataGlove sensor glove, developed at NASA's Joseph Ames Research Center, and then improved and released to the market by VPL Research (Fig. 2.20).

    To determine the value finger bend angles the VPL DataGlove uses elastic optical fibers(light guides). Finger flexion is detected using a set of ten fiber optic sensors that are built into the glove above each knuckle. The sensors work on the principle that if an optical fiber is bent, the light transmitted through it is attenuated in proportion to the bend. Each sensor consists of a light source at one end of the fiber and a detector at the other. The microprocessor sequentially scans all sensors and calculates the bend angle of each finger joint using a specific model of the structure of the human hand. The glove connects to a PC using a standard RS-232 serial interface.

    Fig.2.20. VPL DataGlove touch glove

    Several competing touch-sensitive gloves have been developed, the most famous of which is the inexpensive Nintendo PowerGlove (Figure 2.21, left), designed for use in video games. Gloves with light sensors were developed by the Californian company Virtual Technologies, for example, the simplest CyberGlove mittens. There is also an 18-sensor model that tracks the movements of the fingers (Fig. 2.21, in the center), and a 22-sensor model that can also capture the flexion-extension of all fingers except the thumb. These gloves give an error of only 0.5-1°. The 22-touch model takes readings 149 times per second, and the 18-touch model takes readings 112 times per second. The Computers & more company produces the 5th Glove (Fig. 2.68, right).

    In other models, in particular, Virtex CyberGlove, tension sensors are used to determine the bend angles of the fingers. For some tasks, the accuracy (of the order of ±10º) and repeatability of readings from such sensors may be insufficient. A more accurate measurement method is provided by Exos' Dexterous Handmaster, which has an exoskeleton attached to the knuckles and Hall effect sensors. Sensors allow you to determine finger bend angles with an accuracy of ±0.5º. However, it's not entirely clear that any benefit can be gained from such precision, and it may well be that the four levels of data provided by the Nintendo PowerGlove are actually sufficient for most tasks.

    Fig.2.21. Touch Gloves: Nintendo PowerGlove; 18-touch model from Virtual Technologies; 5th Glove

    There is also technology with mechanical sensors, but it is heavy and imperfect.

    The tracking system also digitizes hand position. Aerospace corporation McDonnell Douglas has developed the Polyhemus system, which is built into the DataGlove glove and serves to determine the position of the hand.

    The mentioned VIEW video helmet and DataGlove use a sensor system that is sensitive to the electromagnetic field. The accuracy of position determination is about two millimeters. The glove can be located at any point of a conventional ball with a diameter of 1 m.

    A more modern P5 glove from the American company Essential Reality is shown in Fig. 2.22. The base station is turned on USB port and does not require external power, the glove is turned on by a wire in base station. On the back of the “palm” there are 8 infrared LEDs that allow the base station to track the movements of the hand in space. The base station contains 2 infrared cameras, which allows you to more reliably monitor the glove and accurately determine the distance to it.

    Fig.2.22. Base station and P5 glove

    The visibility area of ​​the base station is 45° vertically and horizontally and about 1.5 m in depth. In this cone, P5 can track hand coordinates along 3 axes with an accuracy of 0.6 cm (60 cm from the base), as well as palm rotation and tilt with an accuracy of 2°. Coordinates are polled at a frequency of 40 Hz (the delay is 12 ms). In addition to the tracking system LEDs, the glove has 5 rubber “fingers” with bend sensors. They are attached to the user's fingers with plastic rings and measure the bend with an accuracy of 1.5°. There are also 4 buttons on the back of the glove, one of which is programmable (the rest are used for calibration, on/off and switching operating modes). So in joystick terms the P5 has 11 analog axes and 1 button.

    Haptic feedback(Forced Feedback) is used in touch gloves to simulate touch hands towards the object. Tactile feedback is most easily implemented small speaker in the palm, since the hand feels well the click made by the speaker in response to some event. But this is only a signal about events, and I would like to get the feeling of touching virtual objects. This feeling can be simulated in many ways.

    To simulate the sensation of touch using pressure often used air inflatable balloons, with the help of which the strength or rigidity of the pressure of the glove on the fingers is regulated. Attempts have been made to apply piezoelectric crystals, which, when vibrating, create a feeling of pressure, as well as shape memory alloys, which can be made to bend by passing a weak electric current. A similar device, the Portable Dexterous Master (Fig. 2.23), consisting of a VPL DataGlove equipped with three pneumatic actuators, was developed by inventor Grigor Berdia of Rutgers University.

    Fig.2.23. Portable Dextrous Master Device

    In addition to the sensation of pressure, imitation of the sensation is also important resistance when trying to move a virtual object. For this purpose it can be used miniature robotic arm, attached to the hand. For example, later models of the DataGlove already included piezoelectric sensors at the fingertips to provide some level of haptic feedback. When the user picks up a virtual object, he feels pressure from the contact of his fingers with the surface of the object. Even later, the glove was equipped with a special robotic exoskeleton, allowing you to create sensations of weight and strength.

    “Force” feedback can be implemented without sensor gloves. A simple force feedback device was developed by Digital. This lever, similar to the throttle on a motorcycle, which can change the strength of its resistance to turning. A team of specialists from UNC used an electromechanical manipulator to create “force” feedback.

    Tactile feedback is very sensitive to the characteristics of the feedback loops: the user subconsciously instantly reacts to impulses from the system and adjusts his reaction before the system has time to work out previous reactions. It is believed that to create a reliable illusion of feeling an object, the tactile system must have an information update rate of 300-1000 Hz, which is at least an order of magnitude higher than the update rate of visual information.

    Virtual Technologies has developed CyberGrasp with haptic feedback, giving the user the ability to feel virtual world with your own hands (Fig. 2.24).

    Special hooks are worn over gloves and, if necessary, prevent the hand from being compressed with a force of up to 12 N (Newton) on each finger (a force of 1 N must be applied in order for a body weighing 1 kg to change acceleration by 1 m/s; or this is the gravitational force acting on 1/9.8 Kg). The maximum impact of CyberGrasp is comparable to that which can be experienced by hanging 1.2 kg on each finger with the elbow joint straight, plus the foot itself weighs another 350 g.

    The company Virtual Technologies also invented the CyberTouch device with reverse tactile input (Fig. 2.25). This small device is worn on the fingertips and transmits various types of vibration to them. It attaches on top of VR gloves.

    Fig.2.24. CyberGrasp device

    Fig.2.25. CyberTouch device

    The British came up with gloves with a system of balls and a compressor for heating the air, in which you can feel not only the unevenness of virtual objects, but also their temperature. Such a device most fully transmits tactile influence to the hands.

    Hand sensors designed to track its movements. The simplest sensors only have a Position Tracker built in, which tracks the movements of a small cube in the user’s hand. The production of such sensors is carried out by Ascension Technology Corporation. For example, the MibiBird sensor (Fig. 2.26, left) is capable of tracking the hand during rotation ±180° vertically and horizontally, as well as ±90° around its axis with an error of 0.1-0.5°. The Motion Star device (Fig. 2.26, right) is of a more widespread nature and is similar to MibiBird. There are also more sensitive similar devices.

    Trainers and simulators. Many crafts rely on fine motor control and human hand coordination. Some professions require a lot of practice to learn and train for and can take years to achieve a certain level of proficiency (for example, calligraphy). Trainers, simulators and simulation systems are designed to improve learning efficiency. The use of devices with tactile feedback allows the learning process to be carried out more effectively, especially when the learner's hand is guided by an electronic expert - a device with tactile feedback.

    Telecontrol (remote control) and micro-manipulation, robotics.Working with inaccessible or hazardous material requires telepresence of the operator. The use of devices with tactile feedback makes it possible to improve the quality of remote control of robots and various execution devices by transmitting additional tactile information that is intuitive to the operator. Unfortunately, standard joysticks do not allow the use of this channel of human information perception.

    The use of devices with tactile feedback is justified in critical operations with remote control robots, when operators can instantly feel the reaction and various limitations of the manipulator (dynamics, workspace limitations, etc.).

    Micromanipulators are small robots built to perform various tasks with objects often finer than human hair. Accordingly, the use of haptic feedback devices allows the operator to manipulate micro-robots in an intuitive and familiar way.

    Medicine. A large number of high-tech medical devices are often limited to the surgeon's primary tool, namely their hands. Accordingly, the use of systems with tactile feedback in medical simulators and real medical robots allows tactile information to be transmitted to the surgeon, which allows all manipulations to be done in a familiar and intuitive manner.

    Tactile contact is secret weapon, which we receive to create successful and lasting relationships. This is our language, given to us from birth. But over time we forget about its importance. How can we return to natural communication?

    Psychologists recommend that in order to remember, tactile contact involves using your imagination and imagining yourself on a bus crowded with people. Passengers, being half asleep, by inertia continue to reproduce their thoughts and emotions with the help of tactile sensations. Couple in love holding hands Small child looks for support from his mother - reaches out to her and calms down.

    Types of communication

    Everyone knows that we can communicate verbally and non-verbally. But not many people know that with the help of movements and expressions one can convey quite complex emotions and desires. We are careful with our touch, but we can receive and transmit signals with it. That is, we have the ability to interpret tactile contact. When we touch another person, our brain displays an objective assessment.

    The most accurate and not at all simple way to communicate

    The researchers concluded that with the help of the voice, we can identify one or two positive signals - good mood and joy. However, research shows that sensations are more accurate and subtle way communication than the sound of the voice and facial expression.

    In addition, using touch you can increase the speed of communication, that is, touch is the easiest way to signal something. Tactile contact with a man helps girls create a deeper sense of connection. Touch is also important in the mother-child relationship, as we begin to receive it even before birth. When a mother touches her baby, she gives him a feeling of security.

    The importance of touch

    Warm touch promotes a release that increases feelings of affection and trust between people. This can explain our habit of touching ourselves: rubbing our hands, stroking our forehead, hair. Tactile contact helps us experience all the same positive sensations that the person we touch experiences. Research has shown that when we hug, we get as much benefit as the person we hug. In addition, by touching a person, we will receive information about his emotional state. Let's find out how he is configured: friendly or hostile. Is he relaxed or tense? Such information will help us choose the right tactics in communication. Therefore, we can say that tactile sensations are the easiest way to strengthen intimacy in a romantic relationship.

    Tactile memory is the memory of the sensations we experience while touching an object. Let's say you once petted a snake at the zoo, and now every time you see a snake (on TV, for example), you remember how cold its skin is.

    Tactile memory is not associated with the organs of vision, it involves. Otherwise, we can talk about working together visual and tactile memory. If vision is involved in memorization, then, as a rule, we do not remember tactile sensations.