(Newswire.net — December 3, 2014) — The technology of 3D image projecting has been around for a few decades. The main reason it didn’t find its practical appliance is that we can’t interact with the projection. If we could touch it, however, that might change everything. The question is how to feel the light – the answer is, by combining it with sound.
British scientists from the University of Bristol’s Interaction and Graphics research group produced a revolutionary system, which adds sound waves to light waves creating unique projection that can be felt by touch.
Sound waves can push the air particles while responding to the slightest change in frequency. It is the same feeling as when we put our palm near a subwoofer to feel bass or have a different tactile sensation when move our hand near high frequency speakers.
A team of scientists from the UK created a system, named UltraHaptics, which can provide corresponding sound waves to different shapes. So far, they successfully experiment with simple objects, such as spheres and a pyramid.
“Touchable holograms, immersive virtual reality whose touch you can feel, and complex touchable controls in free space are all possible ways of using this system,” Dr. Ben Long, Research Assistant from the Bristol Interaction and Graphics (BIG) group in the Department of Computer Science, said.
The idea behind the plausibility of the project is simple and entirely relies on the laws of the physics. It takes, however, a very complex system to calibrate the waves to correspond accordingly to a hand motion over the surface of the projected object. Thanks to the unique algorithm which include psychometric unit JND (Just Noticeable Difference) and ultrasound, the machine creates a detectable pressure difference. By making many waves arrive at a focal point at the same time, a detectable pressure difference is created at that point, which is felt on a user’s skin when they hit the waves, so that they are able to feel the 3-D projected objects, get feedback for mid-air gestures and interact with virtual shapes.
The application of UltraHaptic virtual reality itself is limitless. From holographic buttons that provide tactile feedback, medical applications allowing surgeons to explore a CT scan by touching the diseased areas such as tumors, to remotely operating a robotic hand by feeling the amount of the pressure on an object.
“The Ultrahaptics evaluation program launch has received a very warm reception from those within the industry. A lot of interest has been registered from several blue-chip organizations and the additional funding will help us to meet the needs of our customers,” said Tom Carter, CTO at Ultrahaptics.