A Haptic Feedback Sleeve for a Flight Video Game

Modern video games are increasingly aiming for more natural interactions and healthier gaming experiences. Haptic devices, in particular, can enhance these experiences by providing multimodal feedback and simulating a variety of body postures. However, limited attention has been paid to utilizing upper limb wearable haptic devices in video games. In this study, we developed a flight video game that incorporates a wearable pneumatic haptic device. Our designed haptic feedback sleeve can deliver changes in both haptic forces and applied areas on the forearm. The proposed device consists of 40 airbag units made from two layers of TPU film, sealed by heat. To verify its performance, we conducted finite element simulations and experiments to assess the output force, area, and linearity of the airbag units. Two haptic perception experiments were conducted to verify the distribution of this haptic feedback device. Finally, experimental validation combining the flight video game was conducted. The results showed that the distributed upper limb haptic feedback sleeve reduced the user's following angle error by 12.99% when the aircraft roll speed was 16 deg/s. This finding indicates an enhancement in limb motor control ability using the proposed haptic feedback sleeve.