Wearable haptics for VR and AR

Abstract:

In the last decade, we have witnessed a drastic change in the form factor of audio and vision technologies, from heavy and grounded machines to compact and lightweight devices. Think, for instance, of the first hi-fi speakers and compare them to the latest portable music players. However, only recently, haptic systems have started to be designed with portability and wearability in mind. The wearability of haptic systems enables novel forms of communication, cooperation, and integration between humans and machines. Indeed, compact, unobtrusive, inexpensive, easy-to-wear, and lightweight haptic devices enable researchers to seamlessly provide compelling touch sensations to multiple parts of the body, significantly increasing the applicability of haptics in many fields, such as robotics, rehabilitation, gaming, and immersive systems. Virtual and Augmented Reality are two applications that can greatly benefit from wearable haptics, e.g., a haptic vest can replicate the feeling of being hit by bullets in First Person Shooters (FPS) games, vibrotactile bracelets can reproduce the vibrations of the steering wheel of a race car driven in rough terrain, and fingertip devices can alter the perception of tangible objects' mechanical properties, making them feel more heavy or slippery. This talk will present my recent work in the field.

Bio:

Claudio is a CNRS Chargé de Recherche (CR2) in the Lagadic group of Rennes, France, since December 2016. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Siena, Italy in 2009, 2011, and
2014, respectively. He has been a postdoctoral researcher of the Dept. of Advanced Robotics of the Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy in 2015 and 2016. He visited the University of Padua, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Twente in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. He received the 2014 EuroHaptics Best PhD Thesis Award for the best doctoral thesis in the field of haptics, and the 2015 Meritorious Service Award for his work as a Reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Haptics. He has also been Associate Editor for the 2017 IEEE World Haptics conference as well as the Publicity Chair for the 2017 IEEE World Haptics and 2018 Asia Haptics conferences. He has been involved in the EU project THE, WEARHAP, SoMa, ACTIVE, and RoMaNS.