Video: An early prototype of the magnetically levitated joystick shows how it can replicate the feel of physical objects
A computer controller levitated by magnets provides a new way to physically experience virtual objects.
The 鈥渕aglev鈥� system has benefits over more mechanical haptic controllers 鈥� computer interfaces that stimulate the user鈥檚 sense of touch 鈥� and its inventors are now working to commercialising the technology.
Haptic technology has uses ranging from remote medical breast checks and exploring distant lands, to recreating the feel of fabrics.
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But most haptic interfaces to date rely upon gloves or robotic arms to provide feedback to a user. The complex mechanics involved increases weight and friction that can make it difficult to provide a natural feel.
Super bowl
To solve that, and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US, developed a haptic device with just one moving part (see video, top right).
A bowl with electromagnets concealed below its base contains a levitating bar that is grasped by a user and can be moved in any direction. The magnets exert forces on the bar to simulate the resistance of a weight, or a surface鈥檚 resistance or friction. LEDs on the bar鈥檚 underside feed back its position to light sensors in the bowl.
This approach has 鈥渉uge potential鈥�, says , a haptics researcher at University College London, UK. 鈥淭his system gets rid of the mechanical linkages that are a major constraint on most haptic devices.鈥�
Six degrees of freedom
The maglev interface can exert enough force to make objects feel reassuringly solid, says Hollis, resisting as much as 40 newtons of force before it shifts even a millimetre.
That鈥檚 enough to feel the same as a hard surface and better than most existing interfaces, he says. 鈥淐urrent devices feel very mushy, so it鈥檚 hard to simulate a hard surface.鈥�
The device can track movements of the bar as small as two microns, a fiftieth the width of a human hair. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 important for feeling very subtle effects of friction and texture,鈥� says Hollis.
And it can exert and respond to all six degrees of freedom of movement 鈥� moving along or rotating about each of the three dimensions of space (forward/backwards, left/right, up/down).
鈥楾otally different鈥�
, of the at the University of Glasgow, says the maglev approach is totally different from existing systems.
鈥淚t offers things that other devices just can鈥檛 do 鈥� the high forces, low friction, low inertia, and six degrees of freedom.鈥�
After working on a series of prototypes since 1997, Hollis has started a company called to market the technology. The first six second-generation versions of the device will soon be shipped for testing to a .
The system will be showcased at the , which opens on 13 March.
