Surrounding Air Gun Array for Precise Touch Stimulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual reality technologies struggle to provide continuous and precise wind stimulation for the sense of touch without the burden of wearing a head-mounted display, as air blowers generate diffused wind and require device attachment.
Innovation Solution
A stimulus presentation system using multiple air guns arranged around the user to control ejection times, directions, and angles, synchronized with audio image movement, allowing for continuous wind stimulation without a head-mounted display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a small-sized air blower is attached to a head-mounted display to control wind, then the sense of touch can be stimulated, but the wind generated is diffused and it is difficult to delicately stimulate the user
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the wind stimulation system into multiple air guns arranged around the user, each capable of independent control. This segmentation allows precise targeting of specific body parts with focused air streams, eliminating the diffused wind problem of single air blowers while maintaining system manageability through modular architecture
Solution Approach 2:
Each air gun is equipped with independent control for ejection time, azimuth direction, and ejection angle, enabling localized and differentiated wind stimulation. This allows the system to deliver precisely controlled air streams to specific body sites rather than diffused wind, achieving delicate touch stimulation
2Measurement precision
If a head-mounted display is required to wear for wind control, then wind stimulation can be provided, but a heavy burden is placed on the user
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the air guns from the head-mounted display structure and positions them independently around the user. This separation eliminates the need for users to wear heavy equipment while maintaining precise wind control capability, as the air guns can be strategically positioned to target specific body parts without requiring head-mounted attachment
Solution Approach 2:
The control device serves as an intermediary that coordinates multiple air guns to provide continuous wind stimulation. This mediator manages the complex timing and directional control of multiple air streams, creating the effect of continuous wind without requiring the user to wear any device
3Measurement precision
If air guns are used to stimulate specific body parts, then delicate touch stimulation is achieved, but continuous wind sensation requires complex coordination
Solution Approach 1:
The control device alternates ejection of air streams from different air guns in a periodic manner, creating the sensation of continuous wind. By carefully timing the periodic activation of individual air guns and coordinating their ejection cycles, the system achieves continuous wind perception while maintaining precise control over which body parts are stimulated
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous wind stimulation by coordinating multiple air guns to operate in sequence rather than independently. The control device ensures that as one air gun completes its ejection cycle, another begins, creating an unbroken sequence of air stream delivery that provides continuous tactile feedback to the user
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables users to feel continuous wind and precise motion sensations without wearing a device, enhancing the sense of presence in virtual experiences by synchronizing air stream ejections with virtual object movements.
Implementation Method 1
A stimulus presentation device that stimulates a user with air from a plurality of air guns arranged so as to surround the user
Data Source
AI summary
A stimulus presentation device 13 that stimulates a user with air from a plurality of air guns 14 arranged so as to surround the user includes a control unit 132 that determines respective ejection times at which a plurality of air streams are to be ejected at given time intervals which allow the user to perceive an apparent motion as well as respective ejection azimuth directions in which the plurality of air streams are to be ejected and causes the air streams to be sequentially ejected from the respective air guns 14 disposed in the individual ejection azimuth directions at the individual ejection times and an adjustment unit that determines a plurality of different body sites on a body of the user to which the plurality of air streams are to be applied and adjusts respective ejection angles of the individual air guns 14 such that respective muzzles of the air guns 14 are pointed at the plurality of body sites.