Gloves that include haptic feedback for use with HMD systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10275025-B2
Application number	US-201615181257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2016
Priority date	Jun 14, 2015
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

A glove interface object is provided, comprising: a plurality of fluid channels disposed on a palmar side of the glove interface object, the fluid channels containing a magnetic fluid; a plurality of electromagnets positioned on the palmar side of the glove interface object, each of the plurality of electromagnets being configured when activated to generate a magnetic field that acts on at least a portion of the magnetic fluid; a controller configured to control activation and deactivation of the electromagnets based on received haptic feedback data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A glove interface object, comprising:
a plurality of fluid channels disposed on a palmar side of the glove interface object, the fluid channels containing a magnetic fluid, wherein the plurality of fluid channels includes at least one fluid channel defined on a finger portion of the glove interface object;
a plurality of electromagnets positioned on the palmar side of the glove interface object, each of the plurality of electromagnets being configured when activated to generate a magnetic field that acts on at least a portion of the magnetic fluid, wherein the plurality of electromagnets includes at least one electromagnet defined on the finger portion of the glove interface object;
a flex sensor defined on the finger portion of the glove interface object, the flex sensor configured to detect flexion of the finger portion, wherein the flexion is defined from bending of a joint of a hand of a user;
a controller configured to control activation and deactivation of the electromagnets based on received haptic feedback data, the haptic feedback data being generated based on the detected flexion of the finger portion and based on a virtual interaction of a virtual hand in a virtual environment, the haptic feedback data being configured to activate a portion of the electromagnets to resist the flexion of the finger portion, wherein resisting the flexion is configured to resist the bending of the joint of the hand of the user.

2. The glove interface object of claim 1 , wherein the haptic feedback data is defined based on contact between a virtual hand and a virtual object in a virtual environment, wherein the haptic feedback data provides for activation of a portion of the electromagnets that are configured to attract a portion of the magnetic fluid, the portion of the magnetic fluid being positioned on a region of the glove interface object that corresponds to a region of the virtual hand that contacts the virtual object.

3. The glove interface object of claim 2 , wherein the haptic feedback data provides for deactivation of a second portion of the electromagnets that are configured to attract a second portion of the magnetic fluid, the second portion of the magnetic fluid positioned on a region of the glove interface object that corresponds to a region of the virtual hand that does not contact the virtual object.

4. The glove interface object of claim 2 , wherein the haptic feedback data defines a strength of activation of the portion of the electromagnets, wherein the strength of activation is correlated to a level of pressure exerted on the region of the virtual hand that contacts the virtual object.

5. The glove interface object of claim 2 , wherein the virtual environment is generated from execution of an interactive application by a computing device, the interactive application further generating a view of the virtual environment that is rendered on a head-mounted display (HMD).

6. The glove interface object of claim 5 , wherein the contact between the virtual hand and the virtual object is shown in the view of the virtual environment that is rendered on the HMD.

7. The glove interface object of claim 5 , wherein movements of the virtual hand are controlled by detected movements of the glove interface object, wherein the interactive application generates the haptic feedback data based on the detected movements of the glove interface object.

8. The glove interface object of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of fluid channels includes at least one fluid channel defined on at least one phalange segment of each finger portion of the glove interface object;
wherein the plurality of electromagnets includes at least one electromagnet defined on at least one phalange segment of each finger portion of the glove interface object.

9. The glove interface object of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor configured to generate data identifying a pose of at least a portion of the glove interface object.

10. A system, comprising:
a computing device configured to execute an interactive application to generate a virtual environment that includes a virtual hand;
a head-mounted display (HMD), the HMD configured to render a view of the virtual environment generated by the interactive application;
a glove interface object, including,
a plurality of fluid channels disposed on a palmar side of the glove interface object, the fluid channels containing a magnetic fluid, wherein the plurality of fluid channels includes at least one fluid channel defined on a finger portion of the glove interface object,
a plurality of electromagnets positioned on the palmar side of the glove interface object, each of the plurality of electromagnets being configured when activated to generate a magnetic field that acts on at least a portion of the magnetic fluid, wherein the plurality of electromagnets includes at least one electromagnet defined on the finger portion of the glove interface object,
a flex sensor defined on the finger portion of the glove interface object, the flex sensor configured to detect flexion of the finger portion, wherein the flexion is defined from bending of a joint of a hand of a user,
a controller configured to control activation and deactivation of the electromagnets based on haptic feedback data received from the computing device, the haptic feedback data being generated based on the detected flexion of the finger portion and based on a virtual interaction of a virtual hand in a virtual environment, the haptic feedback data being configured to activate a portion of the electromagnets to resist the flexion of the finger portion, wherein resisting the flexion is configured to resist the bending of the joint of the hand of the user.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the haptic feedback data is defined based on contact between the virtual hand and a virtual object in the virtual environment, wherein the haptic feedback data provides for activation of a portion of the electromagnets that are configured to attract a portion of the magnetic fluid, the portion of the magnetic fluid being positioned on a region of the glove interface object that corresponds to a region of the virtual hand that contacts the virtual object.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the haptic feedback data provides for deactivation of a second portion of the electromagnets that are configured to attract a second portion of the magnetic fluid, the second portion of the magnetic fluid positioned on a region of the glove interface object that corresponds to a region of the virtual hand that does not contact the virtual object.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the haptic feedback data defines a strength of activation of the portion of the electromagnets, wherein the strength of activation is correlated to a level of pressure exerted on the region of the virtual hand that contacts the virtual object.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the contact between the virtual hand and the virtual object is shown in the view of the virtual environment that is rendered on the HMD.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein movements of the virtual hand are controlled by detected movements of the glove interface object, wherein the interactive application generates the haptic feedback data based on the detected movements of the glove interface object.

16. The system of claim 10 ,
wherein the plurality of fluid channels includes at least one fluid channel defined on at least one phalange segment of each finger portion of the glove interface object;
wherein the plurality of electromagnets includes at least one electromagnet defin

Assignees

• Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc

Inventors

• Black Glenn
• Osman Steven

Classifications

• G06F3/014 Primary

  Hand-worn input/output arrangements, e.g. data gloves · CPC title

• G06F3/016

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title