Determining my Fall 2022 Research Plan

This Fall, I plan on exploring and getting familiar with the haptic gloves from ACCAD. After the research I did last semester involving object tracking and virtual environments, I noticed that the biggest complain was that people could not see their hands. Because of this, I’ve made it a priority to learn how to incorporate the haptic gloves into VR experience, and what that workflow will look like. The haptic gloves include integration for both Unity and Unreal, so after I get comfortable with using the gloves, I will start exploring how they can be integrated as an input method. In addition to this, I will be unique and accessible ways to track wrist positioning. Given the nature of the Vive headset/tracker system, I believe it can be easily integrated with the gloves to track both hand and wrist position in a small virtual environment.

I will also be incorporating what I have been learning about transformative access and accessibility to drive my research into creating a universally accessible experience that can be highly adapted and enjoyed by everyone. I see my final product being an immersive narrative experience that incorporates virtual reality, haptic gloves, and object trackers to create a seamless experience that connects the physical space to the virtual environment within the headset.