Touch at a Distance: Simple Perception Aid Device with User's Explorer Action

Although we obtain a lot of information in our environment via the visual modality, we also obtain rich information via the non-visual modality. In the mechanism how we perceive our environment, we use not only the sensor information but also "how it changes according to how we act". For example, we obtain the haptic information from the haptic sensor on our finger and when we move our finger along to the surface of the touching object, the haptic information changes according to the finger motion, and we "perceive" the whole shape of the object by executing the action-and-sensing process. In other words, we have a high ability to "integrate" the relation of our body's action and its related sensing data so as to improve the accuracy of sensor in our body.

Based on this idea, we developed a simple perception aid device with user's explorer action to perceive the object at a distance, which has a linked range sensor and haptic actuator, which we name "FutureBody-Finger". The distance sensor measures the distance to the object and it is converted to the angle of lever attached at the servo motor. The user holds this device in his hand with attaching his index finger on the device's lever. For the long distance to the object, the lever leans to the front and the user feels nothing. On the other hand, for the short distance to the object, the lever stands vertically and the user feels the existence of the object. Although the device simply measures the distance to the single point on the object, as the user "explores" around him, the user can obtain more rich distance information of the surrounding object and hence, finally perceive the shape of the whole object.

Junichi Akita
Kanazawa University

Tetsuo Ono
Hokkaido University

Kiyohide Ito
Future University Hakodate

Makoto Okamoto
Future University Hakodate