HugMe: A haptic videoconferencing system for interpersonal communication

Author

Eid, Mohamad ; Cha, Jongeun ; El Saddik, Abdulmotaleb

Author_Institution

Multimedia Commun. Res. Lab., Univ. of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

fYear

2008

fDate

14-16 July 2008

Firstpage

5

Lastpage

9

Abstract

Traditional teleconferencing multimedia systems are limited to audio and video information. Human touch, in the form of handshake, encouraging pat, comforting hug, among other physical contacts, is fundamental to physical and emotional development. This paper presents the motivation and design of a synchronous haptic teleconferencing system with touch interaction to convey affection and nurture. We present a preliminary prototype for haptic poking. Examples of potential applications for HugMe include the domains of physical and/or emotional therapy, understaffed hospitals, remote children caring and distant loverspsila communication.

Keywords

haptic interfaces; teleconferencing; haptic poking; haptic videoconferencing system; interpersonal communication; teleconferencing multimedia system; Cameras; Force feedback; Haptic interfaces; High definition video; Humans; Multimedia systems; Pediatrics; Prototypes; Rendering (computer graphics); Teleconferencing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Virtual Environments, Human-Computer Interfaces and Measurement Systems, 2008. VECIMS 2008. IEEE Conference on

Conference_Location

Istanbul

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1927-2

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-1928-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VECIMS.2008.4592743

Filename

4592743