Exploring the psychophysical effects of the variable-stiffness platform’s material properties on virtual reality experience

Abstract

This work explores a platform system that uses a sets of springs compressed against a terrain platform to create a variation in softness perception. We conduct a just noticeable difference study and confirm that five different degrees of softness can be expressed. Then we test for the effect exaggerated visuals have on the perceived softness, finding that visual multipliers of higher than or equal to 15 result in softer perception. We also find that visual-haptic congruence is increased for all virtually exaggerated motions. We then suggest potential applications and test one of them taking advantage of the findings.