Weight sensation affected by vibrotactile stimulation with a handheld vision-tactile-force display device

In this study, a technique designed to enhance virtual reality (VR) effects by stimulating multiple sensations simultaneously is investigated and significant interactions among such perceptions are evoked under various multiple-simultaneous stimulation conditions. To accomplish this, we developed a handheld multimodal display device capable of presenting visual, weight, and vibrotactile information simultaneously. The device incorporates a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a back-mounted moveable weight, and vibration motors in the handgrips. The weight movements are produced by a linear motor controlled by a personal computer (PC). Using this handheld device, it was determined that VR perceptions could be enhanced by the interactions taking place among multimodal perceptions. In this paper, experiments on weight perception along with the affects of vibrotactile stimulation are described. Using our developed handheld vision-tactile-force display device, we investigated the interactions between force and vibrotactile perceptions that were stimulated simultaneously. This indicates that when strong vibration stimulations were given in the direction of weight movement, the weight seemed heavier. The experimental results and conclusions show that weight perception and vibrotactile stimulation could be enhanced using our handheld multimodal display device.