Communications of the ACM
See It, Touch It, Feel It
Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a method of producing 3D shapes in mid-air that can be felt.
Credit: Bristol Interaction and Graphics group, University of Bristol
University of Bristol researchers have developed a method to produce three-dimensional (3D) shapes that can be felt in mid-air. The researchers say their method could change the way 3D shapes are used, enabling surgeons to explore a computed tomography (CT) scan by enabling them to feel a disease using haptic feedback.
The new method uses ultrasound, which is focused onto hands above the device and can be felt by the user. The device focuses complex patterns of ultrasound, which causes air disturbances that can be seen as floating 3D shapes. The method also involves directing the device at a thin layer of oil so the depressions in the surface can be seen as spots when illuminated by a lamp. The system generates an invisible 3D shape that can be added to 3D displays to create an object that can be seen and felt.
"Touchable holograms, immersive virtual reality that you can feel and complex touchable controls in free space, are all possible ways of using this system," says University of Bristol researcher Ben Long. "In the future, people could feel holograms of objects that would not otherwise be touchable, such as feeling the differences between materials in a CT scan or understanding the shapes of artifacts in a museum."
The research will be presented at this week's SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 conference in Shenzhen, China.
From University of Bristol News
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