Since nuclear power plant (NPP) dismantling carries the possibility of radiation exposure from a hazardous environment, it’s important to minimize that by using a remote manipulator et al. However, due to complexity of nuclear facilities, it’s necessary for operators to increase their proficiency by operating in advance in a virtual environment. In this research, we propose a virtual manipulator system using a haptic device for NPP’s reactor vessel internals (RVI) dismantling which can realistically manipulate.

The goal of this study was to develop a haptic communication system that can convey the tactile sensation of fashion materials in a virtual environment. In addition, the effectiveness and how realistically the virtual fabric image of this system delivers the tactile sensation of actual fabric was verified. First, a literature review was conducted through which the tactile attributes of fashion materials were defined that would be implemented in the haptic communication system. Then, a questionnaire for evaluating the tactile attributes of fashion materials was developed. Next, a haptic communication system was designed to convey fashion image experiences in a virtual environment, from which a haptic rendering model was suggested. The effectiveness of the haptic communication system was evaluated by verifying user experiences with questions developed through a user evaluation experiment. The validity of the evaluation questions pertaining to the tactile attributes and the effects of the haptic communication system were verified. Factor analysis was conducted to verify the evaluation of the tactile sense attributes of the fashion material, which identified density, thickness, and elasticity of the material as key factors. As a result of comparisons between the tactile sense through haptic characteristics and through touching, it was observed that regarding density and thickness, tactile sense experience led to greater perceived reality, while this was not the case for elasticity.

최근 VR(Virtual Reality)에 대한 사람들의 관심이 높아짐에 따라 주변기기 또한 많은 발전이 이루어졌다. VR 환경에서 그 환경내의 사물과 인터랙션 할 수 있는 여러 인터페이스 장치와 룸 단위의 스캐닝을 통한 VR 환경 구성까지 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 현재 VR의 동향을 보았을 때 가정에서의 VR 활용법은 여러 햅틱 인터페이스를 이용하여 VR 환경 내에 구성된 사물들과 인터랙션 하는 것이 많으며 룸 스캐닝을 이용한 방법으로 공간상의 제약을 어느 정도 벗어나기도 하며, 트레킹 장비를 이용하여 실제 사물들과의 인터랙션을 하기도 한다. 3D 프린터의 발전으로 상업용 3D 프린터와 가정용 3D 프린터의 보급이 활성화 되었으며, 3D 프린팅 업체 또는 가정에서 쉽게 3D 프린터를 통해 자신이 원하는 모형을 만들 수 있게 되었다. 위 두 가지를 고려하였을 때 VR 환경 에서 사람들이 쉽게 만들 수 있는 모형을 가지고 직접 인터랙션을 할 때 사람들이 느끼는 모형의 물체감과 VR 환경상에서 구성된 모형의 물체감 사이의 차이점에 대한 연구가 필요하다고 느껴진다. 따라서 이 논문에서는 3D 프린터로 제작한 사물을 VR 공간 내에 구현하고 실제로 구현된 그 사물과의 사용자 테스트를 통해 실제 사물과 인터랙션 할 때와 다른 일반 인터랙션 장비를 사용할 때의 차이에 대한 연구를 하고자 한다.

Introduction Can the background colors of products on an online shopping site affect consumers’ haptic perceptions and evaluations? When shopping online, consumers cannot obtain a product’s haptic information by touching it directly and usually rely on visual information such as the product’s image and description. Nevertheless, consumers sometimes use haptic information to judge whether to purchase a product and marketers aim to engage consumers’ haptic preferences. Currently, researchers in the field of sensory-marketing research are interested in the interaction of multiple senses. Although previous research has demonstrated the interaction between visuals and haptic perception (e.g. Xu & Labroo, 2014), there is still considerable opportunity for further research on consumers’ haptic perception of products they cannot touch directly, such as through online shopping. In this study, we focus on how the background colors of product images affect consumer’s haptic perceptions and evaluations of the products. Theoretical Background Krishna & Morrin (2008) indicate that the interaction among plural senses is caused by perceptual transfer. When an individual perceives a sense, it is associated with previous experiences with other senses, which may cause perceptual transfer (Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2015). For instance, Harrar, Piqueras-Fiszman, & Spence (2011) found that the color of the bowl affected consumers’ perceptions of taste when eating popcorn. In this study, when consumers ate popcorn in a red bowl, they associated the color with mature fruit and evaluated the popcorn as sweeter. Consumers who ate popcorn from a blue bowl evaluated the popcorn saltier because they associated the color with the sea. Based on these results, we predict that the background colors of products will affect consumers’ haptic perceptions and product preferences. Babin, Hardesty, & Suter (2013) show that red and orange induce the perception of warmth. Thus, an orange background color causes consumers to perceive products as warmer. Zwebner, Lee, & Goldenberg (2014) demonstrate the influence of physical warmth on consumers’ behavior and they focus on the anthropomorphic characteristics of products. They mention that consumers tend to perceive inanimate products as anthropomorphized so when they percept warmth to products, they feel emotional warmth and it induces their intention to purchase them. From their findings, we predict that the effect of warm background colors is restricted to anthropomorphized products. Additionally, warmth is strongly associated with softness (Tai, Zheng, & Narayanan, 2011). Hence, we also predict that warm background color might affect consumers’ perception of softness of the products. H1: The color orange is perceived as warmer than white (control). H2a:When the background color is orange (vs. white), anthropomorphized products are evaluated with more familiarity. H2b: When the background color is orange (vs. white), anthropomorphized products are evaluated more favorably. H2c: When the background color is orange (vs. white), there is greater intention to purchase anthropomorphized products. H3a:When the background color is orange (vs. white), anthropomorphized products are perceived as warmer. H3b: When the background color is orange (vs. white), anthropomorphized products are perceived as softer. H4: The perception of the warmth of products affects the perception of softness of products. H5: The influence of “H2a” mediates the perception of warmth of products. Methods We conducted two studies to research the hypotheses above. Warm and soft inanimate products are anthropomorphized (Horowits & Bekoff, 2007), and we researched this hypothesis by comparing warm and soft products with cold and hard products in study1. For the purpose of identifying warm and soft products (anthropomorphized products) as well as cold and hard products (non-anthropomorphized products), we conducted a pretest. For the study1 pretest, we chose a teddy bear, futon, and scarf as anthropomorphized products and a garbage can, ice pop, and glass as non-anthropomorphized products. In study2, we used hand watches, which are considered cold and hard. However, a watch indicating 10:10 is recognized as a smiling human (Labroo, Dhar, & Schwarz, 2008). Hence, we compared watches set to 10:10 and 12:00. For study1 and study2, we conduct a 2 (orange vs. white) × 2 (anthropomorphized products vs. non-anthropomorphized products) between-subject test on the participants. Participants answered a questionnaire on a website. They evaluated the color and products on a 7-point Likert scale. For both study1 and study2, we recruited participants via the Internet. They received a point worth 3 JPY (approximately 0.03 USD) for participating in the study. Results Study1 We used a t-test to compare the averages of warmth to the background colors. It showed a significant difference between Group orange and white (t=32.329, df=916.938, p< .001). For H2a to H3b, we conducted the two-way ANOVA of 2 (background color: orange, white)×2(anthropomorphic characteristics of products: anthropomorphized, non-anthropomorphized). The results showed no interactions. Hence, we used t-tests (See Table1). The results supported H2a to H3b. In addition, we conducted a path analysis on the influence of the perception of products’ warmth toward the perception of products’ softness. The influence was significantly positive (β=0.776, p<.001). In comparison, the path from the background colors to the perception of products’ softness was not significant (p= .142). Hence, H4 was supported. Study2 We used a t-test to compare the averages of warmth to the background colors. It showed a significantly positive difference between Groups orange and white (t=22.206, df=323.539, p< .001). Therefore, H1 was supported again. Aside from the above analysis, the results supported H2a to H3b (See Table2). Furthermore, to test H4, we conducted a path analysis on the influence of the perception of products’ warmth towards the perception of products’ softness. Results showed that the influence was significantly different (β=0.823, p<.001). In comparison, the path from the background colors to the perception of products’ softness was not significant (p= .142). Thus, H4 was supported again. Moreover, to test H5, we ran the mediation model by using the PROCESS macro (Model 4, Hayes, 2013). For anthropomorphized products, bootstrapping tests with 2,000 bootstrapped samples revealed that the effect of background colors on familiarity was mediated by the perception of the warmth of the products(a×b=0.09, 95%CI=0.058 to 0.478 excluded 0). The direct effect c’ (0.15) is significant (p= .045), although c (0.06) is not significant (p= .385). On the other hand, for non-anthropomorphized products, the regression analysis revealed that the direct effect c’ (-0.03) is not significant (p=0.711). Hence, H5 was supported. Discussion and Conclusion We demonstrated that warm background colors affect the perception of products’ warmth and softness and increase consumers’ intention to purchase products. We also found that the effect of warm background colors is restricted to anthropomorphized products. This research showed that the effect of warm background colors on the familiarity of anthropomorphized products was mediated by the perception of the products’ warmth. Based on these results, we also demonstrated that the perception of products’ warmth influenced the perception of their softness. Our findings might help to apply Zwebner et al. (2014)’s findings regarding online shopping sites where consumers cannot touch products directly and marketers cannot control consumers’ room temperature.

기존 연구들은 단순히 실물을 만지는 것만으로도 그 대상에 대해 심리적 소유감이 형성되고 그 가치를 높게 평가하게 되는 소유효과가 발생한다는 것을 발견하였다. 또한 단순히 만지는 상상을 하는 경우에도 실물을 만지는 것과 같은 효과가 나타난다는 것이 발견되었다. 기존의 촉각적 심상화 연구에서는 실물을 만지는 상상을 하라는 직접적인 지시에 따른 촉각적 심상화의 효과를 밝혔으나 본 연구에서는 실물을 만지는 상상을 하라는 직접적인 지시보다 촉각적 상상을 자연스럽게 유도할 수 있는 효과적인 방법을 탐색해보았다. 상상유도 조건을 상품에 대한 시각적, 촉각적 단서가 일치하는 다중감각 단서 일치 조건, 불일치하는 다중감각 단서 불일치 조건, 상상하라는 직접적 지시 조건, 통제조건으로 조작하여 촉각적 상상의 생생함, 물리적 통제감, 지각된 소유감, 구매의도에 미치는 효과를 비교하였다. 140명의 대학생을 대상으로 실험을 실시하여 분석한 결과, 시각적 단서와 촉각적 단서가 일치하도록 제공한 다중감각 단서는 촉각적 상상을 직접적으로 지시하였을 때보다도 효과적인 것으로 나타났으며 시각적, 촉각적 단서가 불일치한 경우는 효과적이지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 촉각적 심상화 연구에서 한걸음 나아간 시도이며 온라인 쇼핑과 같이 실물을 보거나 만질 수 없는 환경에서의 상품 제시 방법에 대한 함의점을 제공하는데 의의가 있다.

This paper presents development of the new haptic device for virtual wall collision test. Mathematical model of the proposed system considering virtual wall collision is developed and tuned by comparing force responses from simulation and experiment with free motion. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, a range of collision tests against virtual wall are accomplished, conditioned on different collision speeds to virtual wall. In addition, hybrid PI control scheme is applied to improve the performance of the proposed haptic system in virtual wall collision experiments.

This research extends the seminal work on the role of haptic (touch) information for consumers’ purchase decisions in both online and store shopping settings. Especially, this research focuses on which information consumers rely on as substitutes for haptic information when they cannot touch products at online shopping. A conceptual model is developed to investigate and compare the relative importance of touch, brand, virtual word-of-mouth, and product design. The proposed model is tested with the data collected from 380 consumers in an Asian country (Japan). The empirical results on two product categories (leather bags and smart phone cases) suggest that 1) consumers rely on other information than touch for online shopping, 2) the priority of substitute information differs depending on product categories, and 3) the priority also changes between online and store shopping for the same product category.

In this paper, the learnability of haptic icons was tested as a way of conveying turn-by-turn directions to users involved in navigation interactions with commercial smartphones. To do this, six most distinctive haptic icons were identified from those having different duration of each pulse, interval between pulses, and rhythm. Associations between the selected haptic icons and 3 pairs of navigation directions were analyzed using data gathered from 30 subjects by 7 point Likert scale. The haptic icons were then assigned to proper directions based on the results from that stereotype analysis. The results showed that the commercial smartphone with one linear motor at a fixed location is not capable of making hapticons to have clear directional stereotypes. The hapticons with poor stereotypes has no advantage in learnability compared to those of random assignment.

There are half million dentists in the world and 20,000 dentists in Korea. One of the typical operation among dentist is implantation. The 10% of the dentist in U.S.A. and 70% of dentist in Korea conduct implantation. However many problems are occurred in Korea because many dentists in Korea learn this operation skill from private research center rather than authorized institute like U.S.A. This research develops system of implantation education for dentist using Haptic simulation system to solve such a problem. This system improves education effectiveness through experiencing overall operation procedure and eyes, which expect to lead us 4D virtual reality and provide safe method for patient.

시각과 청각으로 표현된 디지털 콘텐츠가 감각표현을 확장하려는 연구가 활발하다. 최근에는 촉각 표현이 가능한 다양한 촉각 표현 시스템이 개발하여 촉감을 표현하는 디지털 콘텐츠 개발하고 있다. 하드웨어에 의한 촉감각 표현시 다른 감각과의 동기화가 중요한 표현 요소로 대두되고 있다. 본 연구는 햅틱(haptic)표현이 다른 감각에 비해 표현 지연 발생할 경우 실감도에 미치는 영향에 관한 것이다. 시각 및 햅틱 지연 시간을 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0(초)로 설정하여 각 지연에 대한 실감도 평가를 실시하여 선형 회귀 분석하였다. 촉각 지연 보다 시각 지연에서 실감도와 상관성을 보였으며 지연 시간이 길어질수록 실감도가 떨어지는 것을 볼 수 있었다. 그러므로 사용자는 촉감 표현에 대한 지연이 시각 지연 보다 관대한 것으로 사료된다.

현재 디자인 분야에서는 감성에 관한 강한 필요성을 바탕으로 오감각과 인간의 의식 속에 잠재되어 있는 감성적 요소를 디자인에 반영하려고 노력하고 있다. 그러나 그러한 감성적 의미를 표현하기 위한 체계적인 연구에는 아직 미흡한 점이 많으며, 특히 오감각 중 시각적 요소를 중심으로 한 디자인반영과 한정된 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 이러한 한계점을 극복하고 새로운 디자인과 감성적 이미지를 표현하기 위해서는 타 감각적 요소에 대한 깊이 있는 연구와 디자인에 접목시킬 수 있는 실증적 대안이 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 그러한 감성 이미지를 표현하기 위한 감각요소 중 촉각적 요소를 중심으로 연구를 진행하였으며, 현대인의 소비 행태에 있어서, 감성적 디자인 요소로서 촉각적 요인과 밀접하게 관련된 핸들 커버와 음료병 제품의 재질, Grip감, 형태 등이 선호요인으로 작용하는 정도를 알아보았다. 동시에 두 제품군의 각각 선호도와 제품의 촉각적 특성 관계를 비교한 결과 기능적 특성과 원인에 따라 디자인의 촉각적 선호요인의 차이를 보였고, 이는 디자인 시제품 카테고리별 선호 촉감 요소의 차별적 반영이 필요함을 알 수 있었다.

Virtual reality (VR) opened the possibility of moving beyond the 2-D world of conventional desktop systems to an immersive, multi-sensory environment generated by computer graphics. Haptic feedback (Haptics) is now starting to get recognition and use in i

This paper proposes a low-cost robotic surgery system composed of a general purpose robotic arm, an interface for daVinci surgical robot tools and a modular haptic controller utilizing smart actuators. The 7 degree of freedom (DOF) haptic controller is suspended in the air using the gravity compensation, and the 3D position and orientation of the controller endpoint is calculated from the joint readings and the forward kinematics of the haptic controller. Then the joint angles for a general purpose robotic arm is calculated using the analytic inverse kinematics so that that the tooltip reaches the target position through a small incision. Finally, the surgical tool wrist joints angles are calculated to make the tooltip correctly face the desired orientation. The suggested system is implemented and validated using the physical UR5e robotic arm.

Haptic systems have been widely used for both virtual reality and augmented reality application including game, entertainment, education and medical sectors. Clothing designers and retailers initiated using AR and VR technologies to help the consumers find style with the perfect fit. Most of the developed augmented reality shopping is implemented by overlapping the image of the clothes on the customer so that he/she can find the fit. However, those are only visual information and the customer cannot experience the real size and the stiffness of the clothes. In this paper, we present the haptic upper garment which provides the haptic feedback to the user using cables. By controlling the length of the cable, the size of the clothes is set and by stiffness control, the compliance of the fabric is implemented. The haptic garment is modeled for precise control and the distributed controller architecture is described. With the haptic upper garment, the user’s experience of the virtual clothes is greatly enhanced.

In robotic surgery, a surgeon checks only a surgical site of patient in the progress of surgery by vision and sound information. In order to solve this limited information, the haptic function is necessary. And haptic surgical robot is also necessary to design a haptic master device. The master device for laparoscope operation with cable-conduit was developed in previous research to give haptic function. It suggested a possibility of developing a master device by using the cable-conduit. However, it is very inconvenient to use. Therefore, this paper suggests a new mechanism design structure to solve the problems of the previous work by new forming a new master device. And it has proved that it’s usability is better than previous one. Furthermore it has also experimented and analyzed that a backlash of new master device is compensated by smooth backlash inverse algorithm.

We investigate the role of contact location information on the perception of local features dur- ing contour following in a virtual environment. An absolute identification experiment is conducted under force-alone and force-plus-contact-location conditions to investigate the effect of the contact location in- formation. The results show that the participants identify the local features significantly better in terms of higher information transfer for the force-plus-contact-location condition, while no significant difference was found for measures of the efficacy of contour following between the two conditions. Further data analyses indicate that the improved identification of local features with contact location information is due to the improved identification of small surface features.

This paper presents a robotic system that provides telepresence to the visually impaired by combining real-time haptic rendering with multi-modal interaction. A virtual-proxy based haptic rendering process using a RGB-D sensor is developed and integrated into a unified framework for control and feedback for the telepresence robot. We discuss the challenging problem of presenting environmental perception to a user with visual impairments and our solution for multi-modal interaction. We also explain the experimental design and protocols, and results with human subjects with and without visual impairments. Discussion on the performance of our system and our future goals are presented toward the end.

Since its introduction (e.g., [4, 6]), virtual coupling technique has been de facto way to connect a haptic device with a virtual proxy for haptic rendering and control. However, because of the single dependence on spring-damper feedback action, this virtual coupling suffers from the degraded transparency particularly during contact tasks when large device/proxy-forces are involved. In this paper, we propose a novel virtual coupling technique, which, by utilizing passive decomposition, reduces device-proxy position deviation even during the contact tasks while also scaling down (or up) the apparent inertia of the coordinated device-proxy. By doing so, we can significantly improve transparency between multiple degree of freedom (possibly nonlinear) haptic device and virtual proxy. In other to use passive decomposition, disturbance observer of [3] is adopted to estimate human force with some dead-zone modification to avoid “winding-up” force estimation in the presence of device torque saturation. Some preliminary experimental results are also given to illustrate efficacy of the proposed technique.