Evaluation of Pressure-Slippage-Generating Tactile Mouse using Edge Presentation

Problem statement: Although a conventional tactile display can generate distributed pressure, our tactile mouse can generate not only distributed pressure but also slippage force. In previous works, this tactile mouse was effective on virtual figure presentation tests. Advanced tests are required to evaluate this tactile display. Approach: To compare virtual reality presented by the present tactile mouse and a real object, we produced an edge presentation apparatus composed of an x-y stage and two rotary stages to compare real feeling with virtual reality. In virtual edge presentation, slippage stimulus of a spike was generated in addition to step-height stimulus when a mouse cursor travels on the virtual edge. Results: In virtual edge presentation, we performed three series of experiments: distributed pressure presentation, combined presentation of distributed pressure and vertical slippage force and combined presentation of distributed pressure and parallel slippage force. In the case of the combined presentation of distributed pressure and parallel slippage force, a human subject’s judgment of edge direction was performed with the highest precision among virtual edge presentation tests. When the human subject touched the real edge orientation presented by the apparatus, the precision became higher than any case of virtual presentation. Conclusion/Recommendations: The combined presentation of distributed pressure and parallel slippage force was effective to present a virtual edge. The pressure-slippage-generating tactile mouse can enhance the degree of reality of a virtual figure.