Virtual hell: a trip through the flames

In immersive virtual environments, our eyes and ears are usually the most important channels of perception. However, you might expect that their creators would include other senses in VEs so as to represent the largest range of stimuli. After all, humans are creatures of many senses and rely upon all of them in day-to-day living. In crafting virtual worlds for exploration, VE developers usually aim for as much realism as possible given the constraints of equipment and cost. Unfortunately, force and tactile feedback still have a long way to go, although tactile feedback models can simulate local geometry, texture reproduction, and heat flux and temperature for replicating collision detection. To investigate the latter options, I developed a complete thermal feedback system, the VR Thermal Kit, which includes different components to model, control, and physically generate stimuli on the operator's skin (usually the hand and exposed parts of the body). The results of my study concentrate on interaction paradigms and haptic rendering. They also enhance the level of immersion.