Mixed Reality Simulation Space Warping for Tactile Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mixed reality simulators face limitations in providing realistic tactile feedback due to mismatches between virtual and physical environments, particularly in scenarios requiring dynamic changes or simulations of different virtual patients, which can lead to asynchronous visual and haptic stimuli, reducing immersion and realism.
Innovation Solution
The proposed method employs adaptive space warping techniques to distort the virtual environment, allowing for consistent visual and tactile cues by computing mapping displacements based on differences between virtual and physical environment surfaces, enabling realistic rendering even when the virtual environment diverges from the physical, and allowing for dynamic changes in simulation scenarios.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a one-to-one isomorphic mapping is used between virtual and physical environments, then tactile realism is improved, but flexibility to simulate different scenarios is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces space warping as an intermediary transformation layer between the physical environment and virtual environment. This mediator allows the system to maintain a one-to-one mapping at the tactile level while enabling flexibility in virtual scenario representation, effectively decoupling the constraints of physical hardware from virtual simulation requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes spatial parameters through warping functions that transform coordinates between physical and virtual spaces. By adjusting warping parameters, the system can adapt to different simulation scenarios while preserving the one-to-one tactile mapping, enabling versatility without sacrificing tactile realism.
2Force
If active haptic feedback devices are used, then force feedback capability is improved, but cost and device complexity are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces active mechanical haptic feedback systems with passive haptic feedback based on physical object interactions. By substituting complex mechanical force feedback devices with simpler physical objects and space warping techniques, the system achieves force feedback capability through environmental design rather than active actuation, reducing device complexity and cost.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the virtual environment is scaled differently from the physical environment, then simulation versatility is improved, but tactile-visual consistency is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves scaling conflicts by introducing space warping that operates in the spatial dimension, allowing the system to accommodate different virtual environment scales while maintaining tactile-visual consistency. The warping function transforms coordinates to ensure that tactile interactions remain consistent with visual representations regardless of virtual scaling.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to mixed reality simulation in general, and more specifically to mixed reality simulation devices and systems for training purposes, for example in the medical field. The present invention proposes a mixed reality simulation method for rendering on a display a mixed reality scenario of a virtual environment adapted to a physical environment, the method comprising: acquiring, with a sensor, a position of a physical environment object; identifying a mismatch between a physical environment surface and a virtual environment surface, the mismatch depending on the physical environment object position and a mixed reality scenario parameter; and computing a mapping displacement for a virtual environment surface based on the identified mismatch.