Perception of a Wearable Haptic Feedback Device to Render the Sensation of Flight

The FlyJacket is a wearable jacket designed to allow a user to intuitively control a fixed-wing drone by moving their torso. We embedded haptic feedback into the jacket using closed inflated air pouches compressed by motors to provide haptic feedback on the torso. This haptic feedback represents the drone centripetal forces while maintaining the essential lightweight and portable qualities of the jacket. We evaluate this haptic feedback in a user study to test whether it can convey useful haptic information to the user and whether the feedback enhances the user experience of flying. Users were able to understand the direction of the cues without prompting and could distinguish directional cues from the device quickly and with high accuracy. They also described the sensation provided by the device as pleasant. The device was used in a simulated flight task and compared to flying with no haptic feedback. Users indicated that the device increased the realism of the flight, but were split on whether it improved their sense of immersion.