Phase II Amount
$1,499,985
Current VR solutions are non-user friendly, unsafe, or awkward to use. VR objects and environments are currently unrealistic, and lack a real-world feel. To simulate a properly convincing and meaningfully useful tangible VR interaction, it requires more output data than vibration effects alone but also needs the interface to not lose sight of the inherent human factors / UX expectations within hands-on interactions. As a leading developer of haptic technology working to extend the hands tangible abilities into simulation interactions Contact CI has been focused on this specific problem set since 2015.Maestro has been uniquely developed as a multi-force ergonomic haptic product. Built as full stack of Human-Computer Interaction solutions. Integrating Maestro in a VR/AR simulation enables the user to interface hands-on with convince-ably real objects within a tangible, yet still simulated, digital environment. VR/AR systems and the user interaction methods are limited because they primarily rely on audio/visual senses to immerse users in an environment. Legacy simulators need far too much build and sustainment costs to equal the achieved immersion felt with multi-force ergonomic haptic integrated in lightweight COTS simulators. Contact CI can simulate the sense of touch through an advanced mechanical and electrical system, ergonomic and biomimetic wearable design, and innovations for synchronizing the full stack of HCI software while worn on the hands of VR/AR users. Our innovations are possible due to advances in VR/AR, wearables, 3D software content engines, gesture/motion capture, miniature actuators and motors, additive manufacturing, and robotics on the whole. Contact CI provides a more intuitive human-computer interaction through the use of a haptic wearable (a light-weight multi-sensory device) that simulates the sense of touch and enables users to feel the artificial objects they are interacting with during VR/AR experiences. Contact CIs haptic wearable currently falls under Technical Readiness Level 7. Contact CIs technology can be easily adapted and tailored to meet the growing dual-use needs of DoD customers such as our work with WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC). In a recent survey, 100% of users were satisfied or very satisfied with Maestro haptic gloves produced by Contact Control Interfaces under a Small Business Innovation Research contract with AFLCMCs Simulators Innovation Team. Used in a MC-12W cockpit simulator by the 137th Special Operations Wing at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma, the gloves offer tangible interactions to greatly enhance the benefit of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality simulator training, according to Dylan Greco, a program manager with the Innovation Cell.
