Project Readiness Package.

The VArm is a partial body immersion device which allows the user to physically interact with virtual objects. Very few virtual reality devices currently exist on the market; most geared toward visual experiences and tracking movement. Virtual reality solutions such as the Xbox Kinect are able to accurately track the user but fail to provide haptic feedback from objects that the user interacts with. User mounted devices such as PrioVR are able to provide the user with the sensation of being struck by virtual objects, but are singular devices, and do not allow the user to provide any input back into the virtual system. In both cases these devices provide an incomplete virtual experience, as the user is unable to perform an action and simultaneously feel the result of that action.

The goal of this project is to design a user-mounted control rig which provides kinesthetic feedback as the user moves his or her arm. This will allow the user’s arm to be manipulated in response to an interaction with an object in a virtual simulation. The prototype will be designed as an arm exoskeleton with a force mechanism controlled by a software simulation. The expected result is that our prototype can be created and potentially marketed to companies.

Prototype and API that can be marketed as a novel hardware platform.

IMAGINE RIT Poster - For more information

Project Name

VArm

Project Number

P16062

Project Family

Assistive Devices

Start Term

2155

End Term

2161

Faculty Guide

Louis Beato, contact

Primary Customer

Nicholas Barlow, nzb3684@rit.edu

Sponsor (financial support)

N/A

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