A Touch Of Virtual Shopping
By Helen Potter
Seen the perfect shiny tracksuit on Ebay but don't know if it's just the right texture to give you that Jimmy Savile edge? Then don't worry, HAPTEX could fix it for you.
The HAPTEX team have developed a 'preliminary demonstrator' which could eventually enable customers to get a 'virtual feel' for sweaters, suits, lingerie etc before they make an online purchase.
Careful now, this is the science bit. The HAPTEX partners are working on multimodal perception of textiles in virtual environments. They are aiming towards 'a visual representation of virtual textiles with a haptic/tactile interface, which will allow users to 'feel' the virtual garment.'
Haptics derives from the Greek meaning 'able to touch' and is now considered an essential component of virtual reality systems.
Although several advances in technology would be necessary before the system could even be built the basic plan is to combine two technologies - a stylus that can 'feel' the forces acting on the virtual fabric and tactile arrays attached to two fingertips to transmit the vibrotactile stimulations on the surface of the fabric.
In other words, you can decide if your garment is silky, bobbly, fluffy or fuzzy enough simply through the power of the internet.
To read more about Helen or to view more of her articles click here.
The HAPTEX team have developed a 'preliminary demonstrator' which could eventually enable customers to get a 'virtual feel' for sweaters, suits, lingerie etc before they make an online purchase.
Careful now, this is the science bit. The HAPTEX partners are working on multimodal perception of textiles in virtual environments. They are aiming towards 'a visual representation of virtual textiles with a haptic/tactile interface, which will allow users to 'feel' the virtual garment.'
Haptics derives from the Greek meaning 'able to touch' and is now considered an essential component of virtual reality systems.
Although several advances in technology would be necessary before the system could even be built the basic plan is to combine two technologies - a stylus that can 'feel' the forces acting on the virtual fabric and tactile arrays attached to two fingertips to transmit the vibrotactile stimulations on the surface of the fabric.
In other words, you can decide if your garment is silky, bobbly, fluffy or fuzzy enough simply through the power of the internet.
To read more about Helen or to view more of her articles click here.
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