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We present CrazyJoystick, a flyable handheld joystick allowing seamless interaction methods to change between joystick and hand-tracking while displaying on-demand haptic feedback in extended reality (XR). Our system comprises a quadrotor that can autonomously approach the user when needed, addressing the limitations of conventional handheld and wearable devices that require continuous carrying throughout interactions. CrazyJoystick dynamically reallocates all thrust for haptic rendering during stationary states, eliminating the need to hover while delivering feedback. A customized cage allows users to grasp the device and interact with virtual objects, receiving 3.5 degree-of-freedom feedback. This novel transition method allows us to harvest the aerial mobility from multi-rotor based haptic devices, while having high force-to-weight ratios from being handheld during interaction. This paper describes the design and implementation of CrazyJoystick, evaluates its force and torque performance, and usability of the system in three VR applications. Our evaluation of torque rendering found that users can perceive the direction with an accuracy of 92.2%. User studies further indicated that the system significantly improves presence in VR environments. Participants found on-demand haptic feedback intuitive and enjoyable, emphasizing the potential of CrazyJoystick to redefine immersive interactions in XR through portable and adaptive feedback mechanisms. 

Social touch is a common method of communication between individuals, but touch cues alone provide only a glimpse of the entire interaction. Visual and auditory cues are also present in these interactions, and increase the expressiveness and recognition of the conveyed information. However, most mediated touch interactions have focused on providing only haptic cues to the user. Our research addresses this gap by adding visual cues to a mediated social touch interaction through an array of LEDs attached to a wearable device. This device consists of an array of voice-coil actuators that present normal force to the user’s forearm to recreate the sensation of social touch gestures. We conducted a human subject study (N = 20) to determine the relative importance of the touch and visual cues. Our results demonstrate that visual cues, particularly color and pattern, significantly enhance perceived realism, as well as alter perceived touch intensity, valence, and dominance of the mediated social touch. These results illustrate the importance of closely integrating multisensory cues to create more expressive and realistic virtual interactions. 

Group formation is fundamental for 3D displays that use Flying Light Specks, FLSs, to illuminate shapes and provide haptic interactions. An FLS is a drone with light sources that illuminates a shape. Groups of G FLSs may implement reliability techniques to tolerate FLS failures, provide kinesthetic haptic feedback in response to a user’s touch, and facilitate a divide and conquer approach to challenges such as localizing FLSs to render a shape. This paper evaluates four decentralized techniques to form groups. An FLS implements a technique autonomously using asynchronous communication and without a global clock. We evaluate these techniques using synthetic point clouds with known optimal solutions and real point clouds. Obtained results show a technique named Random Subset (RS) is superior when constructing small groups (G ≤ 5) while a different technique named Closest Available Neighbor First (CANF) is superior when constructing large groups (G ≥ 10). 

Group formation is fundamental for 3D displays that use Flying Light Specks, FLSs, to illuminate shapes and provide haptic interactions. An FLS is a drone with light sources that illuminates a shape. Groups of $$G$$ FLSs may implement reliability techniques to tolerate FLS failures, provide kinesthetic haptic feedback in response to a user's touch, and facilitate a divide and conquer approach to challenges such as localizing FLSs to render a shape. This paper evaluates four decentralized techniques to form groups. An FLS implements a technique autonomously using asynchronous communication and without a global clock. We evaluate these techniques using synthetic point clouds with known optimal solutions and real point clouds. Obtained results show a technique named Random Subset (RS) is superior when constructing small groups (G$$\leq$$5) while a different technique named Closest Available Neighbor First (CANF) is superior when constructing large groups (G$$\geq$$10). 

This study evaluates the accuracy of three different types of time-of-flight sensors to measure distance. We envision the possible use of these sensors to localize swarms of flying light specks (FLSs) to illuminate objects and avatars of a metaverse. An FLS is a miniature-sized drone configured with RGB light sources. It is unable to illuminate a point cloud by itself. However, the inter-FLS relationship effect of an organizational framework will compensate for the simplicity of each individual FLS, enabling a swarm of cooperating FLSs to illuminate complex shapes and render haptic interactions. Distance between FLSs is an important criterion of the inter-FLS relationship. We consider sensors that use radio frequency (UWB), infrared light (IR), and sound (ultrasonic) to quantify this metric. Obtained results show only one sensor is able to measure distances as small as 1 cm with a high accuracy. A sensor may require a calibration process that impacts its accuracy in measuring distance. 

Touch as a modality in social communication has been getting more attention with recent developments in wearable technology and an increase in awareness of how limited physical contact can lead to touch starvation and feelings of depression. Although several mediated touch methods have been developed for conveying emotional support, the transfer of emotion through mediated touch has not been widely studied. This work addresses this need by exploring emotional communication through a novel wearable haptic system. The system records physical touch patterns through an array of force sensors, processes the recordings using novel gesture-based algorithms to create actuator control signals, and generates mediated social touch through an array of voice coil actuators. We conducted a human subject study ( N = 20) to understand the perception and emotional components of this mediated social touch for common social touch gestures, including poking, patting, massaging, squeezing, and stroking. Our results show that the speed of the virtual gesture significantly alters the participants' ratings of valence, arousal, realism, and comfort of these gestures with increased speed producing negative emotions and decreased realism. The findings from the study will allow us to better recognize generic patterns from human mediated touch perception and determine how mediated social touch can be used to convey emotion. Our system design, signal processing methods, and results can provide guidance in future mediated social touch design.