There isn’t a lot of detail to be found behind this short demo of robot-based physical feedback for VR, but the video (embedded below) demonstrates things well. It’s an experiment in generating force feedback for virtual objects using a Baxter robot and the HTC Vive. When the user presses against a wooden block in VR, the robot presses back which simulates the mass of the virtual object. Force feedback is one of these areas in which research is ongoing, and in a variety of different directions.
Like so many other things in life, nothing beats the real thing for actual physical feedback. Also, there’s something great about giving a $25,000 robot the job of impersonating a few simple wooden blocks in VR, just so you can strap on a VR rig and basically give a robot a realistic-feeling fist bump.
For those of you who’d like to experiment in this area without entirely re-inventing the wheel, we previously covered WoodenHaptics – an open-source haptics project working on providing a complete kit, but in the meantime everything is available from their github repository.
[via Reddit]
Filed under: robots hacks, Virtual Reality
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