Glasgow team creates aerohaptics holographic projections

The aerohaptics system pairs volumetric display technology with a leap motion sensor and precisely controlled jets of air to create the sensation of touch on users’ hands, fingers and wrists. Researchers hope the EPSRC-funded project could lead to advances in remote interaction, such as in teleconferencing and surgical applications.

Developed by the university’s Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies (BEST) research group, the system is based around a pseudo-holographic display which uses glass and mirrors to make a 2D image appear to hover in space — a modern variation on a 19th century illusion technique known as Pepper’s Ghost.

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Published in Advanced Intelligent Systems, the team’s paper describes how they used the system to create a realistic sensation of bouncing a basketball. Pairing a computer-generated 3D image of a basketball with the leap motion sensor, the system varies the direction and force of the airflow to create aerohaptic feedback.