Touching 4D Objects with 3D Tactile Feedback

This paper introduces a novel interactive system for presenting 4D objects in 4D space through tactile sensation. A user is able to experience 4D space by actively touching 4D objects with the hands, where the hand holding the controller is physically stimulated at a three-dimensional hypersurface of the 4D object. When a hand is placed on the 3D projection of a 4D object, the force generated at the interface between the hand and the object is calculated by referring to the distance from the viewpoint to each point in the frontal surface of the object. The calculated force in the hand is converted to the vibration patterns to be displayed from the tactile glove. The system supplements the 4D information such as tilt or unevenness, which is difficult to be visually recognized.