A Hand-Held 3-D Display System with Haptic Sensation

We propose a projected based direct visual-haptic display system for virual reality applications. In this work, we developed a hand-held 3-D display system in which the user can manipulate a 3-D object directly using his/her own hands and at the same time feels the weight and the movement of the displaying object. A projector mounted 1.5 meters above a handheld board is projecting images of virtual objects onto the board that the user is holding. A stationary camera is monitoring the board and the system calculates the pose of the board by computer vision techniques. So a motion-stereo effect can be generated by projected geometry methods for the user. Moreover, four motors are also pulling four strings attached to the corners of the board to generate the haptic feedback. Therefore, the user can feel the weight of the virtual 3-D object as well. The system is built and user tests were carried out with satisfactory results. This system has shown a new way of using projected reality, and provides a direct visual-haptic tool for developers to be used in intersting and useful virtual-reality applications.