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Abstract
The Haptic Phonemes project constitutes the core part of the
work I am currently undertaking for my CPSC 448 (Directed Studies)
course. From a high level stand point, it constitutes an
attempt to provide the user of a physical interface with a distortion-free
way to collect information about the current status of the device
via a complex force feedback stimulus.
Background Work
My approach is to construct a complex haptic stimulus (or "Haptic
Word"), based on a combination of Haptic Icon Primitives (or "Haptic
Phonemes"), just as I would construct an English word out of separate
(and logically unrelated) syllables.
From a low level stand point, my project uses the Haptic Icons
building tools previously developed by Mr. Mario Enriquez: they
allow the construction of a set of Haptic Icons maximally spaced
perceptually, based on a set of specific input design parameters
(such as signal frequency, amplitude, and wave form). Currently,
I use Haptic Phonemes based on the following wave forms: square,
sine, and saw-tooth (this follows from criteria equally outlined
in Mr. Enriquez's work). At this early stage, I am in the process
of building a tool that will present the user with selected frequency-waveform
Haptic Phonemes combinations, and study whether a constant recognition
pattern develops.
I am confident that after several iterations I will be able to
present the user with a subset of Haptic Phonemes that will satisfy
the combined requirement of sequential and layered construction
-- without perceptual distortion.
Goals
As a subsequent development, I intent to use the mentioned
Haptic Phonemes subset to construct Haptic Words. This can be
achieved following two distinct avenues. One way would be to concatenate
the Haptic Phonemes to obtain a Haptic Word (number of required
haptic syllables to be determined via user experiments), following
the English word construction paradigm. The second avenue would
be to superpose several Haptic Phonemes to obtain a Haptic Word
of same length as the original syllables, following a bow simultaneously
passing over several cords paradigm.
Once I can consistently present the user with a subset of perfectly
distinct Haptic Words, I can focus on attempts to associate specific
physical device functions with each of the developed Haptic Words.
Ultimately, I seek to modify an existing physical interface by
incorporating force feedback in some of its buttons. That is,
at least one of the existing buttons shall "haptically spell"
a subset of the developed Haptic Words, in an attempt to extend
the information providing process into an alternate human sensory
perception area.
References
[1] MacLean, K. E., Enriquez, M., DiLollo, V. (2002). “Perceptual
Design of Haptic Icons: Towards an Expressive Haptic Language”
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~enriquez/hapticIcons-submitted.pdf
[2] Enriquez, M. (2002). “A Study of Haptic Icons”
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~enriquez/Enriquez%20Thesis%20Final.pdf
[3] A description of the Haptic Phonemes building tools can be
found here
[4] The submitted CPSC 448 project proposal can be found here
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