Inflatable actuators in virtual reality

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10281982-B2
Application number	US-201615295725-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2016
Priority date	Oct 17, 2016
Publication date	May 7, 2019
Grant date	May 7, 2019

Abstract

A haptic feedback glove worn by a user provides an amount of a resistance to a physical movement of a portion of the user's hand. The haptic feedback glove includes a glove body, an expandable bladder and a pressure source. The glove body includes a first portion corresponding to a first phalange of a user hand, a second portion corresponding to a second phalange of the user hand, and a third portion corresponding to a joint between the first phalange and the second phalange of the user hand. The expandable bladder is coupled to the third portion of the glove body. The expandable bladder has an adjustable size that controls an amount of relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body. The pressure source is coupled to the glove body, and is configured to adjust the size of the expandable bladder.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A haptic glove comprising:
a glove body including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the first portion corresponding to a first phalanx of a hand, the second portion corresponding to a second phalanx of the hand, and the third portion corresponding to a joint between the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand;
an expandable bladder coupled to the glove body such that the expandable bladder abuts the third portion of the glove body, the expandable bladder having an adjustable size that controls an amount of relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body relative to a rest of the glove body; and
a pressure source coupled to the glove body, wherein the pressure source is configured to adjust the size of the expandable bladder.

2. The haptic glove of claim 1 , wherein the pressure source is configured to increase the size of the expandable bladder to resist the relative movement.

3. The haptic glove of claim 1 , wherein the pressure source is configured to decrease the size of the expandable bladder to allow the relative movement.

4. The haptic glove of claim 1 , further comprising a location sensor coupled to the glove body, the location sensor for determining a physical position of the glove body with respect to a reference point.

5. The haptic glove of claim 1 , wherein the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand are part of a same finger of the hand.

6. The haptic glove of claim 1 , wherein the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand are each part of a different finger of the hand.

7. A haptic glove comprising:
a glove body including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the first portion corresponding to a first phalanx of a hand, the second portion corresponding to a second phalanx of the hand, and the third portion corresponding to a joint between the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand;
an expandable bladder coupled to the glove body such that the expandable bladder abuts the third portion of the glove body, the expandable bladder having an adjustable size that controls an amount of relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body relative to a rest of the glove body; and
a pressure source coupled to the glove body, wherein the pressure source is configured to adjust the size of the expandable bladder, via adjusting fluid pressure within the expandable bladder, to resist the relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body based in part on instructions received from a console.

8. The haptic glove of claim 7 , wherein the pressure source is configured to decrease the fluid pressure of the expandable bladder to allow the relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body.

9. The haptic glove of claim 7 , wherein the pressure source is configured to increase the fluid pressure of the expandable bladder to resist the relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body.

10. The haptic glove of claim 7 , further comprising a location sensor coupled to the glove body, the location sensor for determining a physical position of the glove body with respect to a reference point.

11. The haptic glove of claim 7 , wherein the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand are part of a same finger of the hand.

12. The haptic glove of claim 7 , wherein the first phalanx and the second phalanx of the hand are each part of a different finger of the hand.

13. A haptic glove comprising:
a glove body including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the first portion corresponding to a first location on a first phalanx of a hand, the second portion corresponding to a second location on a second phalanx of the hand, and the third portion corresponding to a joint between the first location and the second location of the hand;
an expandable bladder coupled to the glove body such that the expandable bladder abuts the third portion of the glove body, the expandable bladder having an adjustable size that controls an amount of relative movement between the first portion and the second portion of the glove body relative to a rest of the glove body; and
a pressure source coupled to the glove body, wherein the pressure source is configured to adjust the size of the expandable bladder, via adjusting fluid pressure within the expandable bladder.

14. The haptic glove of claim 13 , wherein the pressure source is configured to increase the fluid pressure of the expandable bladder to resist the relative movement.

15. The haptic glove of claim 13 , wherein the pressure source is configured to decrease the fluid pressure of the expandable bladder to allow the relative movement.

Assignees

• Facebook Tech Llc

Inventors

• Keller Sean Jason
• Perek David R
• Trutna Tristan Thomas
• Ochs Garett Andrew
• Corson Nicholas Roy
• King Raymond

Classifications

• G06F3/014

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

• G06F3/016 Primary

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