Haptic and audio interaction design with Feelix supporting TorqueTuner and/or DeformableHapticSurfaces (filled)

Project title/description

Haptic and audio interaction design with Feelix supporting TorqueTuner and/or DeformableHapticSurfaces

More detailed description of the project

The SAT is developing a unique Haptic floor with force-feedback actuators that can individualize haptic feedback to participants in group settings to equip its dome hosting immersive arts. Haptic technologies, while omnipresent for people owning smartphones producing vibrotactile feedback (a subset of haptics), support an interaction design space that is yet to be explored by artists authoring immersive arts. We propose to onboard artists onto immersive haptic and audio interaction design, step by step, starting with low-cost affordable devices with 1 degree of freedom and authoring tools designed by designers for designers, towards a near future where haptic floors are deployed in immersive art spaces.

Feelix is a "haptic authoring tool developed to support the design and integration of force feedback and shape change in user interfaces" (the source code is available on Feelix 2.0 GitHub repository). TorqueTuner is a force-feedback haptic device with 1 rotary degree of freedom and ForceHost is a toolchain to generate firmware with FAUST to create audio-haptic applications embedded in TorqueTuner, both projects developed in collaboration with the SAT. DeformableHapticSurfaces is a work-in-progress affordable open-source toolkit to discover interactive deformable surfaces with multiple linear degrees of freedom created at the SAT.

Expected outcomes

The goals of this project idea are to:

  • add support of TorqueTuner and/or DeformableHapticSurfaces in Feelix (potentially through ForceHost)
  • add support of audio in Feelix as output modality (for producing sound and/or vibrotactile feedback) and input modality (for instance for controlling the haptic floor) (potentially through ForceHost)
  • create a video of a demo showcasing how the newly-consolidated software and hardware toolkit facilitates exploring the design space of immersive haptic and audio interactions
  • (bonus) co-author a related publication with your co-mentors

Skills required/preferred

  • required: experience with C++ and ESP32 (Feelix C++ Library and TorqueTuner and DeformableHapticSurfaces)
  • required: experience with TypeScript/JavaScript (Feelix)
  • preferred: experience with Electron and Angular (electron is based on html/css/javascript and is very easy to get started with) (Feelix)
  • preferred: experience with haptics and audio interaction design

Possible mentors

Anke van Oosterhout, Christian Frisson, Edu Meneses, Michał Seta

Expected size of project

350 hours

Rating of difficulty

hard