Touching the Future of Virtual Reality
by David Pescovitz
 Printer-friendly
version
Sara McMains, professor of Berkeley mechanical engineering
Angela Privin photo
|
At an automobile manufacturing facility in Japan, a large computer-generated
model of a sedan floats in space in front of a product manager's
eyes. Holding a stylus in her hand and pressing a button at her
fingertip, she begins to draw on the surface of the vehicle. As
she traces the lines around the wheel wells, she feels resistance
against the stylus corresponding to the curves of the steel. It's
as if she's dragging a magic marker along the body of a real car.
Simultaneously in Los Angeles, a car designer sees lines appearing
on the same virtual vehicle and creates a digital post-it note,
reminding him to reconsider whether the fender may be too close
to the tire. This isn't a science fiction vision for the future
of automobile design. It's the very real virtual reality research
of Berkeley mechanical engineering professor Sara McMains.
"Instead of having to bring everyone who has a stake in a
design together in one physical location, they can be anywhere
and still talk about the particulars and provide valuable feedback
during the design process," McMains says.
A
student uses the Virtual Reality workstation running the
CHaMUE system. (The automobile's 3D effect is simulated
to depict what the CHaMUE user sees.)
Image courtesy
the researchers
|
McMains, graduate
students Youngung Shon and Irena Nadjakova, and professor Carlo
Séquin are already testing this novel system for collaborative
design review at a distance. Users of their CHaMUE (Collaborative
Haptic Mark-Up Environment) system don stereo glasses that provide
a three-dimensional view of a computer-generated model displayed
on a drafting table-like display screen. The glasses track the wearer's
head so he or she can view the model's different angles simply by
looking "around" the image. The user then grasps a stylus
suspended from a force-feedback, or haptic, device called a PHANTOM.
The PHANTOM and its accompanying software convert digital information
about a virtual model into force feedback to provide the sensation
of actually touching a real object, or in this case drawing on it.
CHaMUE enables users at similar workstations anywhere in the world
to interact with each other and the computer model via the Internet.
While CHaMUE has applications across design disciplines, McMains
points to the automobile industry as a driving force behind her
work. Automobile companies are increasingly off-loading the manufacturing
of various car parts to different suppliers. The problem is that
it's difficult to share feedback throughout the design and manufacturing
process when the interested parties may be thousands of miles
away from each other.
Professor
Sara McMains and graduate student Youngung Shon demonstrate
the CHaMUE system. Many undergraduate students also contributed
to the project through the College of Engineering's Undergraduate
Research Opportunities (URO) Program and Undergraduate Research
Apprentice Program (URAP).
David Pescovitz photo
|
Virtual collaborative development environments are not new, McMains
points out. But traditionally, the models that are discussed in
these virtual conference rooms are either two-dimensional, or
complicated CAD designs, or both. These models are often difficult
for product managers or other non-engineers to understand. That's
why she's exploring whether haptics can make virtual collaborative
environments more user friendly.
To determine
whether haptics help the design process, the researchers had to
develop a system that could display the complex models required
by many design applications. The problem is compounded by the fact
that in CHaMUE, the model is dynamically changed by the user's interactions.
One approach the researchers are exploring is enabling the CHaMUE
system to change the level of detail in the model based on the requirements
of the task-at-hand, the bandwidth available to share designs online,
and the speed of the hardware powering the workstation.
Another key focus of the research is human-computer interaction.
McMains and her collaborators are conducting user-studies to help
determine the optimal amount of force-feedback required to enhance
the experience of drawing on a virtual object. Through the user
studies, the researchers discovered that combining properly-tuned
haptics with three-dimensional displays reduced user error and increased
drawing speeds.
"Our hope is that this system would be intuitive and fun so
people would be more likely to use it," McMains says. "That
way, designers could get feedback earlier in the design process
to see where, for example, they may be going wrong from a manufacturing
standpoint."
Sara McMains's home page
Carlo
H. Séquin's home page
Lab Notes is
published online by the Public Affairs Office of the UC Berkeley
College of Engineering. The Lab Notes mission is to illuminate groundbreaking
research underway today at the College of Engineering that will
dramatically change our lives tomorrow.
Media contact: Teresa
Moore, Lab Notes editor, Director of Public Affairs
Writer, Researcher: David
Pescovitz
Web Manager: Michele
Foley
Subscribe or send comments to the Engineering Public Affairs
Office: lab-notes@coe.berkeley.edu.
© 2003 UC Regents.
Updated 8/29/03.
|
