FEELING IS BELIEVING

The ability to touch virtual fabric will make for a digitally sensual treat in the near future

By Victoria Wheeler

February, 2008 – In a pioneering breakthrough, European researchers have created an interface that allows humans to touch a medium that feels just like real fabric. The software, linked to a ‘tactile device’, has enormous potential for surgery, shopping, design, gaming – essentially any human-machine interaction.

The revolutionary HAPTEX digital fabric interface lets you actually feel ‘virtual’ textiles. The output of several years of research, the HAPTEX system is basically a sensor-laden glove hooked to visual representation equipment the likes of which has never been seen before, and it reproduces the ‘experience’ of different fabrics with astounding realism.

HAPTEX roughly stands for “Haptic sensing of virtual textiles”.  ‘Haptic’ is the scientific term for the study of touching behavior in humans.

This fantastic technology was achieved through the intense work of a consortium of five organizations. Over the past decade, HAPTEX Project researchers studied precise measurements taken by sophisticated equipment of the tensile, bending and stretching properties of various textiles. In the last three years, they created a model, then built the prototype and its software.

‘We have a working prototype device, and we have validated it. It gives a reliable and reproducible sensation of real fabrics in a virtual world,’ says Professor Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, a ‘reality augmentation’ specialist from the MIRALab research center at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Like video running on a computer or via the Internet, HAPTEX’s visual ‘delivery’ system provides a high resolution ‘representation’ of fabric ‘movement’ at the speed of 20 frames per second. But, the touch element of the system is much more sensitive, at least 1,000 samples per second are required to recreate the feeling of fabric.

Two software components govern the process. One application controls the overall properties of the material being recreated. A second program maps the sensations felt on the skin. The result is a detailed visual reproduction of the fabric that is ‘touched’ on screen, and the sensation passed through to the wearer of the digital glove.

Professor Magnenat-Thalmann notes, ‘That was another major problem because the two [components] must be in sync, or the sensation will not be realistic.’ Like a video with the audio out of sync, any latency (lag time) between the visual and the sensual destroys the effect.

Synchronizing these elements was the main challenge for the researchers. ‘We had major jobs to do with the hardware, too. Nobody has combined a force-feedback device (like a vibrating game steering wheel or controller) with a tactile one,’ reports Magnenat-Thalmann.

 

HAPTEX digital fabric waiting to be touched by the Haptex digital glove (not shown). The act of ‘feeling’ the fabric will be projected onto a monitor (also not shown). The recreated fabric can be both seen and felt.

The HAPTEX group developed an electronic glove covered in an ‘exoskeleton’ of pin-sized sensors that translate sensations to two fingers. The glove itself simulates bending and stretching of fabric, while the pins convey the texture. This information is combined in database to give a sensory impression of both vision and touch.

Independent reviewers are highly impressed with the HAPTEX’s results, but Magnenat-Thalmann says the consortium has not yet reached its goal. ‘Originally, our vision was to create a system that allowed users to distinguish between, say, cotton, wool and silk in a blind test. The system is not that sensitive yet.’

The research team hopes to secure funding for a second project that will take the device from prototype to full commercial product. If successful, it will be the very first of its kind.

There is tremendous application and market potential for this new-born technology. The textile industry and online shopping are the first and most obvious targets, but Magnenat-Thalmann also sees applications in gaming, where it could be used to make virtual worlds even more realistic.

You may not suspect it, but HAPTEX is a tremendously exciting advancement in the ‘digital’ experience. More than anything that has come before, the HAPTEX glove sensors provide the ability to ‘digitally sense’ texture, shape, thickness, and elasticity, among other object elements. This technology can be extended to a broad range of in-game experiences, it’s not just for ‘fabric’. This is the tip of an enormous in-game sensory iceberg.

Visualization of digital data, which are, technically, the components of any computer program or game, has long been studied and tweaked toward 3-D perfection. We have live, interactive audio, too. One large, missing piece is the ability to feel objects in a digital world. The HAPTEX technology promises to put the user into a game ‘world’ more effectively than any vibrating controller or dance pad can. 

Soon, you’ll open doors by actually ‘turning’ a knob or throwing a latch. You will pick up a sword, feel its weight, feel it slice through the air, feel it contact your target, and feel it flex as it does so. You’ll be able to touch another avatar’s body – gently, or less than gently. And, you will be able to shop for and ‘wear’ clothing made of digital denim or silk, or go for a ‘test walk’ in brand new digital leather boots.

This writer believes the remaining sensory simulations of taste and smell are a much smaller hurdle than the digital ‘tactile’ experience. Once HAPTEX becomes commercially available, the sense of touch will help close the gap between the virtual and the real. Gaming will never be the same.

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While you may not be able to feel it just yet, you can see a HAPTEX system demonstration in a video from MIRALab at:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibr-1qe6xFw

Second Life Fashion Dilemma: Class or Trash?

By Victoria Wheeler

Some Second Life citizens don’t care much what they wear, as long as they ‘feel’ comfortable and appropriate. To some SL denizens, fashion means keeping up with trends straight from the real world. To others, their SL wardrobe means looking as ‘seductive’ as possible in order to quickly engage someone in a conversation that goes beyond the ubiquitous, “Where did you get those wings?”, into more er, personal territory.

When it comes to what my avatar wears in SL, I’m torn, 50-50 between those last two options, class vs. trash. 

Well over a year ago, as a noob, I was thrilled by all the styles available in SL. The options were intoxicating, and the prices were right. Having been raised in New York City, I’d long been a fan of wearing what was current. I bopped around SL buying all kinds of wonderful clothing. I was blissed at the opportunity to dress in the high style of which I’d always dreamed.

I even started a small collection of ‘period’ outfits. After all, SL was about fantasy. I bought dresses from eras such as the Renaissance, Tudor England, the 1700’s, Victorian England, some Antebellum hoop-skirt ball gowns, several ancient Roman togas and sandals, native American buckskins, a 1920’s Flapper outfit, a 1940s woman’s business suit with matching ‘period’ underwear, hosiery and shoes, and a Japanese brocade kimono, among other ‘interesting’  and unusual things. I’m not into the fantasy role-playing or furry thing, but I do own a dramatic female knight’s outfit, an animated mermaid costume, and a serious purple cloak to wear when casting magic spells. 

I purchased lots of outfits one might consider ‘fashionable’ in the real world, too. Well-designed clothing I thought was elegant and casual, classic and ‘now’. We know there are extremely talented SL fashion designers, and discovering them was wonderful fun for me.

Then something happened to make me realign my clothing choices. My heart was smitten by a charming, handsome man in SL. Originally from South America, now living in the States, he introduced me to his love of Salsa dancing. I noticed the women at the SL Salsa clubs were wearing short, sexy dresses that swayed deliciously to the dramatic choreography and hot rhythms of Salsa. The wheels in my overheated brain began to turn, and one day, I showed up for our ‘Salsa date’ decked out in a ruffly, sleeveless, clingy red mini dress cut down to my navel in front and in back, well, you know to where.

My male friend’s reaction to this bit of virtual fluff was way too encouraging to ignore, so I decided to find more outfits appropriate for both dancing and capturing my dance partner’s libidinous attention.

Now that I had an audience, I was on my way to months of ‘dressing to impress’. In the past, when I dressed as I would in the real world, no one in SL noticed. My historically correct outfits were also ‘non-events’. Once I knew a reaction was forthcoming I tricked out my avi in something sheer, shiny, slinky and slit, and sparkly platform shoes. Thanks to the great exchange rate, the urge to shop in SL is tough enough for me to resist. The urge to shop for an outfit that successfully elicited lustful reactions from my gender of choice (hetero males), really got me hooked.

Time passed, and I amassed a sizable wardrobe of slutty outfits and 4″ killer heels when, one day, it occurred to me what I’d been doing. I’d become quite clever at filtering out any article of clothing that didn’t fit my perceived notion of what was ‘sexy’. I optimized any purchase ‘for the hunt’, and never settled for anything that wasn’t guaranteed to raise a pixelated eyebrow. Had I sold out my avatar’s dignity (and by proxy, my own) for sexual attention?! It occurred to me I had done just that. 

If you’re expecting this epiphany to have a wise and happy ending, don’t. In spite of the cleansing effect of my confession, I still suffer from Fredrick’s of Hollywood syndrome in SL. Aware as I am of my unsavory SL dressing motivation, recognizing that I have become a 3-D floozy isn’t the same as doing something about it, or even caring. Sure, I’ve tried a mash of contemporary and come-hither, but I know which side gets more weight – the side that shamelessly lures men like moths to a flame. There’s no self-hatred or potential for reform going on here. Just the acknowledgment that I dress for an audience that has no sense of discrimination for quality and style, only for what exposes – the more, the better. 

So, next time you see me in my flexi-lace mini skirt, fishnet thigh-highs, barely-there midriff top and shiny vinyl fetish stilettos, go ahead and smile. I know what I’m doing. I’ve made my choice. I think.