A Design and Implementation of a Kayak Simulator with Motion-Haptic Feedback

Abstract

The one of the most important factors in virtual simulating systems is to convey an appropriate motion-haptic signal to users according to the virtual environment’s condition. However, most of conventional virtual simulating systems can hardly provide immersive sensation to users because they do not create motion-haptic signal. Therefore, in this paper, we design and implement a kayak simulator system which allows a user to naturally manipulate and to immersively control a virtual kayak through motion haptic feedback. In order to provide the same sensation to users as if they drive a real kayak, the implemented kayak simulator consists of three parts (a motion input part, a motion re-creating platform, and a virtual environment). The motion input part uses an inertia measurement unit (an IMU) for measuring a user’s motion which is used for control input to the kayak simulator. A virtual environment module visualized the motion of the virtual objects and an avatar onto the screen based on the measured user’s motion. To convey the motion-haptic feedback to users, the motion re-creating platform generates motion feedback information in response to the user’s interaction with virtual objects. The proposed kayak simulator is capable of dynamically expressing kayak’s motion according to the amount of user’s interaction and virtual waves. If the developed motion re-creating platform is used for constructing other virtual applications, users not only can naturally manipulate with virtual objects but also can sense realistic and immersive sensation.