Controller with Wearable Sensor for Force Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing controller devices fail to effectively present the sense of force for finger movements of both hands, leading to unnaturalness and reduced immersion in gaming experiences, as they are not gripped by the user and often cause discomfort when worn as a glove.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus with a device that is fixed to one side of the user's palm, featuring a depressible button and a sense-of-force presentation block, which provides tactile feedback based on the user's finger movements, allowing for natural grip and immersion without unnaturalness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a controller device is designed to be worn on the hand like a glove to detect finger movements, then the sense of force for finger movement can be presented, but the sense of unnaturalness increases and immersion deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is divided into two separate parts: a main body unit that can be held naturally in the hand, and a separate wearable sensor unit that detects finger movements. This segmentation allows the main body to maintain natural ergonomics while the sensor unit captures finger movement data for virtual sense of force feedback.
Solution Approach 2:
A wearable sensor unit acts as an intermediary between the user's fingers and the main controller body. This intermediary detects finger movements and transmits data to the main body, which then provides appropriate feedback, eliminating the need for the main controller itself to be worn on the hand.
2Ease of operation
If a controller device is not gripped by the user, then button operations can be simplified, but the sense of force for finger movements cannot be effectively presented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical gripping interaction with an optical or electromagnetic detection system. The wearable sensor unit uses sensors (such as optical sensors or capacitive sensors) to detect finger movements without requiring physical contact or gripping force, thereby maintaining simple button operations while enabling sense of force presentation through digital signal processing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a wearable glove controller is used to detect finger movements, then finger movement detection is enabled, but discomfort increases and immersion is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the entire hand to be enclosed in a glove, the patent places sensors only at specific locations where finger movement detection is needed. The wearable unit focuses sensing capabilities on the fingertips or specific finger joints, reducing overall material coverage and improving comfort while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller system dynamically adjusts between different input modes: it can detect finger movements when the wearable sensor is active, or accept direct button presses on the main body when the wearable sensor is not used. This dynamic adaptability allows users to switch between detection methods based on comfort preferences and task requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a housing having a holding portion for gripping by a hand of a user; a manipulation block having a first side that includes at least one of: (i) one or more pressable buttons, and (ii) a stick button, and having a second side that includes a trigger button; and at least one of: (i) a thumb sensor block, located proximate to the first side of the manipulation block, and operable to detect the presence of the thumb of the hand of the user when the holding portion is gripped by the user, (ii) a first finger sensor, located on the trigger button, and operable to detect the presence of the at least one finger of the hand of the user when the holding portion is gripped by the user, and (iii) a second finger sensor, located proximate to both the second side of the manipulation block and the holding portion of the housing, and operable to detect the presence of at least one of a middle finger, a ring finger, and a pinky finger of the hand of the user when the holding portion is gripped by the user.