GamesBond: Generating a haptic illusion of a physical connection

GamesBond is a pair of controllers that enables users to feel the haptic illusion of grabbing an object with both hands, even without a physical connection. Each controller bends, twists, and stretches to fit a virtual object held between two hands, giving users the experience of holding and manipulating different “bonds.”

Article | Fall 2021

Regardless of the application, Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, such as games, education, or simulations, demand bimanual interactions. Current technologies compensate for bimanual interactions by visual renderings or a two-handed controller. However, they cannot respond to dynamic force changes in bimanual interactions. For immersive virtual reality experience, it is vital to have a technology that can easily switch between single-hand and bimanual interactions and freely change the configuration between both hands.

In order to accommodate these needs, a research team led by Prof. Andrea Bianchi from the Department of Industrial Design and in collaboration with Microsoft Research developed GamesBond, a pair of controllers that create a haptic illusion of a virtual link between two hands without a physical connection. GamesBond bends, twists, and stretches inside the user’s hand to render the illusion of a single object that deforms due to the relative motion of two hands. Also, GamesBond can simulate various stiffnesses of linkage materials, ranging from a rigid stick to a flexible rope. This research was published in the 2021 ACM CHI Virtual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and was awarded the Honorable Mention Best Paper Award.

 

Each GamesBond controller consists of two segments with a single joint in between. Users hold the middle of the device, where the joint is, and it bends, twists, and stretches inside their palm. In the user study, the researchers tested and evaluated three different types of virtual “bonds”: “Rigid bond,” where both controllers refer to a completely rigid object; “Soft bond” that smoothly deforms while connecting two controllers; and “Dynamic bond” with additional mass and elasticity rendered by the physics simulation. As a result, the researchers found that the realism, immersion, and enjoyment of the virtual bond experience significantly increased when haptic feedback was provided. The research team further suggested practical applications, such as individual/group jumping rope in VR, bending and breaking a wood bar, moving weight between two hands, and interacting with different tools with various shapes.