Robotic Device Hands Real Switches and Buttons to Users of Virtual Worlds

Patent granted for safe, high-speed system that combines real and virtual objects for training and testing applications.

Mountain View, California, October 1998 -- Computer Graphics Systems Development Corporation (CGSD), has been granted U.S. patent No. 5,803,738 for its device that allows participants in virtual reality environments to touch real objects in those environments. The invention, called TOPIT™ (Touched Objects Positioned In Time), has been built and demonstrated in a virtual cockpit for flight simulation.

When using the simulator, the pilot wears a head mounted display which shows the cockpit interior and instrument panel, as well as the out-the-window scenery. When the pilot reaches for a control on the virtual instrument panel, a computer tracking the pilot's hand determines which type of switch or knob the pilot is reaching for. Before his hand reaches the control, a custom-designed, high-speed robotic system moves the proper device into position to correspond with what the pilot sees in his display. He can then actuate the control with the exact physical sensations he would feel when using the real device.

The advantage of TOPIT over completely virtual systems, or virtual systems with conventional haptic feedback, is that the user perceives the force, resistance, and other tactile cues of touching a real object, while maintaining the flexibility of a virtual environment. In addition, unlike any other commercial haptic feedback system, TOPIT is able to provide devices that twist, such as radio knobs, so that torque-related feedback is available. In the virtual cockpit simulator, the appearance of the cockpit interior and the positions of all the controls can be changed almost instantly by simple alterations of the software. A single simulator can then serve for a number of different aircraft, or design changes in instrument panel layout can be simulated and tested without the construction of expensive mock-ups. This technology is expected to provide significant cost savings to the developers of aircraft and other operator cockpits and control systems.

Development of the prototype system was partially sponsored by the U.S. Army's Simulation Training and Instrumentation Command in Orlando, FL. Several commercial firms are evaluating TOPIT to aid in the design of automobile and aircraft controls layouts, and for designing control panels for power plants.

The U.S. patent for "Apparatus for robotic force simulation" was issued to CGSD president Roy Latham and assigned to the firm. CGSD has trademarked the TOPIT abbreviation.

CGSD Corporation is a privately-held systems integration firm, founded in 1990, that performs contract-sponsored research related to virtual reality and simulation systems. They also provide tools for visual simulation professionals, turnkey simulation and entertainment systems, and consulting in all aspects of visual simulation.

For more information, contact CGSD at 2483 Old Middlefield Way, Suite 140, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, +1: 650 903-4920 FAX: +1 650 967-5252, http://www.cgsd.com, info@cgsd.com.

Return to the CGSD home page. Return to the virtual cockpit project page.

CGSD Corporation, http://www.cgsd.com/TOPIT_PR.html, November 4, 1998