Embracer: A Wearable Encountered-Type Haptic Controller for 3 DoF Input and Feedback

Dennis Dietz, Steeven Villa, Moritz Ziarko, Michael Bonfert, Florian Müller, Andreas Butz

ISWC 2024

Proceedings of the 2024 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers

TL;DR

What we did: We built Embracer, a wearable encountered-type haptic controller that allows for three degrees of freedom input and feedback.

What we found: We found that Embracer provides nuanced haptic sensations and allows for natural user input, significantly enhancing the immersive experience in Virtual Reality environments.

Takeaway: Our work contributes to the development of more realistic haptic feedback systems, paving the way for improved engagement in training simulations and entertainment applications.

Abstract

The lack of haptic sensations beyond very simple vibration feedback diminishes the feeling of presence in Virtual Reality. Research suggested various approaches to deliver haptic sensations to the user’s palm. However, these approaches are typically limited in the number of actuation directions and only focus on enhancing the system’s output, ignoring haptic input. We present Embracer, a wrist-mounted encountered-type haptic controller that addresses these gaps by rendering forces along three axes through a sphere-shaped end effector within the user’s palm. Using modified servo motors, we sense user-performed manipulations of the end effector as an input modality. In this paper, we contribute the design and implementation of Embracer together with a preliminary technical evaluation. By providing a more comprehensive haptic feedback system, Embracer enhances the realism and immersion of haptic feedback and user control.