Shape-Changing Haptic Navigation Interfaces

I have developed a number of user interfaces that modify their shape to communicate spatial data. This is an unusual but promising form of haptic interface that leverages the excellent ability of the human hands to detect object shape and contours within a grasp. In fact, we use this ability many times a day without even being aware of it. The fact we are unaware of shape perception is indicative of the low cognitive load associated with this sensing modality. This is very different to vibrotactile interfaces, which are very good at grabbing attention (which is why they work so well in mobile phone alerts).

The device that has received the most attention is the Animotus, which was developed in collaboration with Extant, a vision-impaired theatre company based in London. The Animotus is a cube shaped device held in the user's hand, which wirelessly connects to a navigation system (such as a smartphone). The top half of the cube is able to rotate or extend relative to the bottom, giving the current heading and distance to the next waypoint or target on a walking route.

The Animotus was used in Flatland, an immersive theatre installation set in complete darkness. The Animotus has also been tested for navigation potential in outdoor pubic spaces, in comparsion to vibrotactile interfaces that give the same information (spoiler - people were 200% faster and less distracted after completing a navigation course with shape change). Other devices in this series are the Haptic Taco and Haptic Lotus.

I was responsible for the design and fabrication of the Animotus and 'Haptic Taco' devices. I knew that I would have to make several of these devices and ship them from the US to England for the Flatland project. I also knew that the devices would each experience many dozens of hours of use at the hands of the public, with no trained mechanical engineers on hand to correctly service them. I therefore deliberately designed the systems with robust 3D printed components, off-the-shelf components and ease of disassembly/reassembly to enable Flatland theatre technicians to replace components that I knew may experience wear (such as the 3D printed transmission components). I took great pride in this design process and no devices failed during the entire Flatland run (which involved almost 100 audience members). Some CAD renderings of the device assemblies are shown below.

Publications

• • Spiers, A., van der Linden, J., Wiseman, S., Oshodi, M. (2018) “Testing a Shape-Changing Haptic Navigation Device with Vision Impaired and Sighted Audiences in an Immersive Theatre Setting” IEEE Transactions on Human Machine Systems

  • Spiers, A., & Dollar, A. (2017) “Design and evaluation of shape-changing haptic interfaces for pedestrian navigation assistance”. IEEE Transactions on Haptics [pdf]

  • Wiseman, S., van der Linden, J., Spiers, A., & Oshodi, M. (2017) “Control and Being Controlled: Exploring the use of Technology in an Immersive Theatre Performance”. ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS)..

  • Spiers. A., van der Linden. J., Oshodi. M.. Dollar, A., (2016) “Development and experimental validation of a minimalistic shape-changing haptic navigation device”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

  • Adam J. Spiers, Aaron M. Dollar (2016) “Outdoor Pedestrian Navigation Assistance with a Shape-Changing Haptic Interface and Comparison with a Vibrotactile Device”, IEEE Haptics Symposium

  • Spiers. A, van der Linden. J, Oshodi, M. Dollar, A; (2015) “Flatland: An Immersive Theatre Experience Centered on Shape Changing Haptic Navigation Technology”, IEEE World Haptics 2015

  • Spiers. A, van der Linden. J, Oshodi, M. Dollar, A; (2015) “First Validation of the Haptic Sandwich: A Shape Changing Handheld Haptic Navigation Aid”, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR 2015)

  • Janet van der Linden, Terry Braun, Yvonne Rogers, Maria Oshodi, Adam Spiers, David McGoran, Rafael Cronin, and Paul O'Dowd (2012). "Haptic lotus: a theatre experience for blind and sighted audiences." In Proceedings of the 2012 ACM annual conference extended abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1471-1472.

  • Janet van der Linden, Yvonne Rogers, Maria Oshodi, Adam Spiers, David McGoran, Rafael Cronin, and Paul O'Dowd (2011). “Haptic reassurance in the pitch black for an immersive theatre experience”, Conference on Ubiquitous Computing - Ubicomp 2011, pp. 143-152

  • Oshodi, M., Spiers, A., van der Linden, J., (2010) “The Question – Exploring Haptic Technology in a Collaborative Immersive Theatre Project” – Digital Resources for Humanities and Arts (DRHA)