Electro-tactile feedback system to enhance virtual reality experience

Virtual Reality (VR) has been proven to be capable of enabling its users to experience immersive virtual environments and interact with the computer. Most VR applications utilize stereo visual perception, however, stereo visual perception alone is not enough to fully immerse users in VR environments. Haptic feedback technology when applied to VR applications can offer improved immersion and interactivity and can extend the range of sensations experienced by the user. For example, tactile feedback can enable the user to feel an object they touch with their virtual hand or body. To provide tactile feedback in VR applications most researchers construct cumbersome mechanical actuators and linkages for applying feedback forces or vibrations to the user's real hand or body. Having to wear cumbersome feedback hardware can have the negative effect of making the user more aware of their physical body which can reduce the sense of being immersed in the VR world. To overcome this drawback we propose an alternative feedback system which is comprised of a hand gesture interface, a stereo visual head-set and an electro-tactile feedback system. Our electro-tactile feedback system is compact, simple, inexpensive and capable of delivering a variety of feedback sensations to the user. Experimental results are provided which demonstrate how the electro-tactile feedback system can enhance both the sense of immersion and interactivity for VR users.