The Wolverine Haptic Interface Lets You Grasp Objects in VR
When you hear the word “wolverine,” you perhaps think of a hairy and somewhat violent man with claws. Well, it’s also the name of an innovative haptic interface device developed at Stanford University consisting of three rods attaches to the index, middle, and ring finger, as well as a person’s thumb.
As the user moves his or her fingers, sensors on the end of each rod provide the position, and can even apply braking force to the individual digits to simulate gripping an object. Additionally, an IMU is used for overall orientation tracking.
Leveraging its low-power brake-based locking sliders, the system is capable of withstanding over 100N of force between each finger and the thumb, and only consumes 0.24 mWh (0.87 joules) for each braking interaction.
Although it looks awkward in real life, one would imagine that this wouldn’t be a problem in virtual space, where you wouldn’t see the “claws” sticking out of your hands, or need the space in between to grip real things.
You can read more about the project in its paper here, and check out its demo below!
