Human forces in hands free interaction: a new paradigm for immersive virtual environments

A recent trend in virtual environments aims at making the user free of devices or limitations in its motion, at the benefit of immersiveness and interactivity. This work introduces an interaction paradigm that goes beyond motion based interaction, by making use of measured real forces exerted by the user in free space. The sensation of touch with virtual object is obtained by vibrotactile stimulation combining virtual contact information with measured forces. In this way the user has an additional dimension of interactivity at the benefit of immersivity, without incurring in the reduction of sense of presence introduced by grounded haptic interfaces. This paradigm is presented and discussed in particular in the context of a boxing training simulation, as one of the possible application scenarios.