Oculus inTouch

Abstract

Arthur C. Clarke said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and cutting edge Virtual Reality (VR) certainly is quite the illusion. VR opens to us a near infinite set of worlds and possibilities. Comprehensive, Immersive, Virtual Environments (IVEs) will change the way we shop, explore, love and live. They’ll close the gap between our digital imaginations and our physical limitations. The barrier to this vision is that right now, IVEs don’t feel real. We may have breathtaking, high resolution displays, and compelling comprehensive spatial audio, but when we reach out and touch the digital world of an IVE, we’re left holding nothing. In this thesis, I propose a solution to this challenge, redesigning one of the most common VR ecosystems -- Oculus -- to contain cutting edge vibrotactile effects and actuators. The following pages lay out a narrative for a product -- the Oculus inTouch controller -- that balances performance, comfort, immersion and realism; yet remains accessible, flexible, and compelling. More than a product, I introduce an approach -- Interaction Centric Design -- to take haptics from the intangible world of psychophysics, and the nuanced and intricate world of the engineer, placing it within the grasp of the designer. I define a new theory -- Haptic Cuing -- predicated on guiding user behavior through the careful selection of haptic signal to avoid producing haptic noise. Over these next pages, I outline my journey into and through the world of haptics. I explain my process, my theory, and my path to designing what I hope is a foundational piece of haptic interfaces to come.