Configurable VR Environment Mapping with Modular Haptic Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual reality systems provide limited immersive experiences as they require fixed physical environments, restricting users to a single interaction model and limiting the ability to configure or change the physical space, which restricts both entertainment and training scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method for creating a configurable virtual reality environment by mapping virtual reality world data to physical plans, using configurable hardware components such as aluminum I-beams, cam-lock clamps, and textured panels, allowing for customizable and modular construction of physical structures that correspond to the virtual environment, enabling users to interact with varied tactile feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed physical environments are used for virtual reality, then users can physically interact with the virtual world, but the system is limited to a single map and requires users to come from other locations to experience different VR worlds
Solution Approach 1:
The physical environment is divided into modular components including wall panels, floor panels, ceiling panels, and structural frames that can be independently assembled and configured. Each module contains standardized connection points and haptic feedback elements, allowing the system to be segmented into transportable units that can be rapidly assembled to create different virtual reality maps without requiring permanent installation
Solution Approach 2:
The physical environment transitions from a fixed, permanent structure to a dynamic, reconfigurable system. The modular panels and frames can be easily assembled, disassembled, and reconfigured to match different virtual reality maps. This dynamic capability allows the same physical space to adapt to multiple VR scenarios, eliminating the limitation of single-map systems while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized components
2Reliability
If haptic feedback devices are added to enhance immersion, then users can feel physical feedback, but the system becomes more complex and requires additional hardware components
Solution Approach 1:
Haptic feedback functionality is merged directly into the structural components of the physical environment. Vibration motors, force feedback actuators, and tactile elements are integrated within the wall panels, floor panels, and structural frames rather than being separate add-on devices. This integration maintains high immersion quality while reducing overall system complexity by eliminating standalone haptic devices and their associated mounting hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The structural components serve multiple functions simultaneously: providing structural support, defining the physical boundaries of the virtual environment, and delivering haptic feedback. Each modular panel contains both structural elements and embedded haptic actuators, allowing a single component to fulfill multiple system requirements and reducing the total number of separate hardware elements needed
3Ease of operation
If a fixed physical model is created to mimic virtual structures, then users can feel the virtual environment, but the system requires permanent installation at a fixed location
Solution Approach 1:
The physical model is segmented into transportable modular units that can be easily moved and reassembled at different locations. Each module is self-contained with standardized connection interfaces, allowing the entire physical environment to be disassembled, transported, and reconfigured in new spaces without permanent installation, thereby providing both tactile interaction capability and location flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The physical environment parameters such as panel dimensions, connection mechanisms, and haptic feedback characteristics are designed to be adjustable and reconfigurable. This allows the same modular components to adapt to different spatial configurations and locations while maintaining consistent tactile feedback quality, enabling the system to operate effectively whether permanently installed or temporarily deployed
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing a configurable virtual reality environment comprises receiving virtual reality world implementation data that describes locations of structures within a virtual reality world from a customer at an input interface. The virtual reality world implementation data is mapped to a physical plan describing a physical implementation of the structures within the virtual reality world using a mapping controller. The physical plan provides indexing and reference points with respect to the physical implementation of the structures in the virtual reality word enabling the physical plan to define the structures in the real world using the mapping controller. Configurable hardware components necessary to build the physical implementation of the structures in the virtual reality world are determined responsive to the physical plan and a listing of available configurable hardware using a parts list controller. A parts list of the configurable hardware components necessary to build the physical implementation of the structures of the virtual reality world is generated using the parts list controller responsive to the determination. The customer is provided with the physical plan describing the physical implementation of the structures within the virtual reality world, the parts list and the configurable hardware components needed to build the physical plan.