CES 2018 Tactical Haptics Reconfigurable Controllers

TRANSFORM YOUR VR EXPERIENCES WITH TACTICAL HAPTICS RECONFIGURABLE CONTROLLERS AT CES

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – January 8, 2018 – Tactical Haptics is debuting its newly developed reconfigurable haptic controllers and new game content at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This new design adds the ability to reconfigure and mate the haptic controllers together on-the-fly to transform the user’s virtual reality (VR) interaction to match their hand/controller configuration (see controller images). The reconfigurable controller design builds on the repackaged controller design available with the VR experience, Justice League: An IMAX VR® Exclusive at the Los Angeles IMAX VR Centre since November 2017.

The reconfigurable controllers are designed to allow them to be used independently or to mate together in common interaction configurations, such as a steering wheel, game-pad, or machine-gun pose. Mechanical sockets on the controllers provide mate-points on each of the controllers to form semi-rigid couplings between the controllers that allow users to effortlessly maintain the mated poses. This allows users to transform interaction modes by acting out their intended action as opposed to clicking a button, so that they remain immersed in the VR experience. That is, VR experiences transform to match the user’s controller configuration (mated or otherwise), so that when they mate the controllers to pantomime forming a steering wheel to drive a vehicle, the on-screen interaction and associated haptic feedback is programmed to reflect this transformation and feeling of turning a steering wheel. Significant effort was also put into placement of the mating sockets to facilitate ergonomic hand poses when mated as well as facilitate mating/de-mating while in VR (i.e., when you cannot directly see the controllers).

As with their prior haptic controllers, the company’s unique brand of touch feedback is created by applying friction and shear forces through actuated plates on the surface of controller handle, which creates tactile illusions of inertia, elasticity, impact, etc, when these shear forces are applied in response to the user’s actions.

The company has also developed a new game experience called “Colony Defense” to highlight the capabilities of its new reconfigurable controllers. This game has the player defend a space colony against incoming waves of space insects. The game features both building and combat interaction as part of the game, similar in spirit to strategy games like Starcraft, but in contrast Colony Defense is first-person and hands-on. For example, the CES game play begins only after the player mates their controllers to form a physics gun and assembles a gun turret. And as expected with our haptic controllers, the player can feel the heft of each piece of the turret as well as the snap as the turret pieces are assembled into place (see image). Once assembled, the player can reposition the turret with the physics gun using their right hand and/or use their left hand controls to fly through space with their jet pack. Separating the player’s hands maintains the jet-pack controls in the player’s left hand, but the right hand now holds a blaster (see image). A heavy blaster can be formed by mating the controllers in the fore-aft configuration (see image). The CES Colony Defense demo is a “work in progress,” but nicely demonstrates the potential of the reconfigurable controllers.

In addition to Colony Defense and the company’s prior “Cyber Golf” mini-game shown at the 2017 Game Developers Conference, the company will also show a new “brick breaker” style VR game it calls “Cyber Smash” that allows the user to clear levels of blocks, while feeling the inertia of throwing smash-balls and the settling of the ball after it rebounds and is caught by the player (see image). The company will also be working on multiplayer versions of these games, as part of its near term refocusing on location-based entertainment (LBE). The company is seeking partner opportunities with high-profile LBEs as well as manufacturing partners while at CES.

The controllers currently use 3^rd party tracking while in the dev kit stage and has tracker mounts for both Oculus Touch and Vive Tracker currently (Oculus Touch mounting shown in the accompanying images, whereas IMAX VR is using the Vive Tracker version).

Tactical Haptics will be exhibiting in the CES Tech West, Eureka Park area of the Sands, Hall G – booth #50322 among the National Science Foundation (NSF) SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) portfolio companies on January 9-12, 2018. Tactical Haptics has been partially funded through NSF, with the focus of creating their next generation motion controller (IIP-1632341). Their new reconfigurable controller design builds on the simplified, more robust, and more integrated redesign that was funded through NSF.

About the company’s touch feedback:

The company’s advanced touch feedback works by mimicking the friction and shear forces that we feel in the real world when holding an object or touching a surface. The touch feedback system works by tracking the movements of the player’s hand (e.g., using a Vive Tracker, Oculus Touch, or Optitrack tracking system) and actuating small sliding plates on the surface of the grip-region of the controller to recreate the friction and shear forces that are naturally experienced when holding an actual object such as a baseball bat, slingshot, or fishing rod. In addition to gaming, this touch feedback could also be used in augmented reality, telerobotic interfaces for manufacturing and maintenance, industrial and construction operator interfaces, toys (e.g., light saber), pilot training interfaces, automotive navigation and safety systems, computer-aided design (CAD), education, laparoscopic or telerobotic surgery, rehabilitation, swing training, or to guide the blind.

For more information on the company’s touch feedback, please visit: http://tacticalhaptics.com/media/#NBCLearn
Link to press release: http://tacticalhaptics.com/ces-2018-reconfigurable-haptic-controllers/
Link to high-resolution images: http://tacticalhaptics.com/pressImages/CES2018/

TRANSFORM YOUR VR EXPERIENCES WITH TACTICAL HAPTICS RECONFIGURABLE CONTROLLERS AT CES

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