Tactile Drones - Providing Immersive Tactile Feedback in Virtual Reality through Quadcopters

Head-mounted displays for virtual reality (VR) provide high-fidelity visual and auditory experiences. Other modalities are currently less supported. Current commercial devices typically deliver tactile feedback through controllers the user holds in the hands. Since both hands get occupied and tactile feedback can only be provided at a single position, research and industry proposed a range of approaches to provide richer tactile feedback. Approaches, such as tactile vests or electrical muscle stimulation, were proposed, but require additional body-worn devices. This limits comfort and restricts provided feedback to specific body parts. With this Interactivity installation, we propose quadcopters to provide tactile stimulation in VR. While the user is visually and acoustically immersed in VR, small quadcopters simulate bumblebees, arrows, and other objects hitting the user. The user wears a VR headset, mini-quadcopters, controlled by an optical marker tracking system, are used to provide tactile feedback.