Design and Development of a Hand Exoskeleton with Force Feedback– Virtual Sense

Abstract

Designed for gaming industry, Virtual Sense is an inexpensive, lightweight hand exoskeleton that offers the easiest way to communicate with computers & consoles by letting you touch & feel in VR. The product is based on an idea of creating a wearable exoskeleton structure with multi degree of freedom that assists in feeling the size of an object in virtual simulation. It is composed of two way communication protocol including I) Haptic (forced) Feedback, a type of communication that recreates the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user, as well as II) distinctly detecting & replicating lag free motion of hand on 3D modelled virtual environment. Virtual Sense combines multiple types of motor units and link rod structures to provide users with a pleasant virtual reality experience. In combination with a 3D graphics rendered environment, VSense provides the user with a realistic sensation of interaction when a user is, for example, grasping an object. A physical model of the proposed idea has been developed through research on extensive hardware that can be used in implementing the desired level of feedback depending on the object hardness. The design is for multiple uses, all of which are an application of Virtual Reality Technology i.e. first person video games, training simulations & medical applications.