Stereo-Vision-Based Human-Computer Interaction with Tactile Stimulation

If a virtual object in a virtual environment represented by a stereo vision system could be touched by a user with some tactile feeling on his/her fingertip, the sense of reality would be heightened. To create a visual impression as if the user were directly pointing to a desired point on a virtual object with his/her own finger, we need to align virtual space coordinates and physical space coordinates. Also, if there is no tactile feeling when the user touches a virtual object, the virtual object would seem to be a ghost. Therefore, a haptic interface device is required to give some tactile sensation to the user. We have constructed such a human-computer interaction system in the form of a simple virtual reality game using a stereo vision system, a vibro-tactile device module, and two position/orientation sensors.