Art and Exploration, Second Life, augmented reality

iFeel_IM Robot Adds Sensations to Second Life

Debuting at the first Augmented Human International Conference was a new wearable device called the iFeel_IM, a robot intended to add physical feelings to the Second Life experience.

Developed by a husband-and-wife team from Japan, the aim of the device is to increase the emotional level of online experiences by triggering feelings using the iFeel_IM’s core component, the Affect Analysis Model. This model automatically senses nine emotions in text and, according to a book chapter from “Human Interface and the Management of Information. Designing Information Environments,” uses haptic devices (called HaptiHeart, HaptiHug, HaptiTickler, HaptiCooler, and HaptiWarmer) to create a more immersive, and hopefully more life-like, sensation to using Second Life and possibly other online functions like instant messaging.

“I am looking to create a deep immersive experience, not just a vibration in your shirt triggered by an SMS. Emotion is what give communication life,” said Dzmitry Tsetserukou, an assistant professor at Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan, in an interview with AFP.

Sensors, small motors, vibrators and speakers are connected to a person and then connected to a computer. The device can then simulate a heart beating, a hug, and a tingling feeling along the spine. It can also apparently generate warmth.

While not perfect, the software that pulls out the emotion from the text, designed by Tsetserukou’s wife, Alena Neviarouskaya, works 90% of the time. The AFP reports that in the case study presented at the conference, “The words “I am happy to see you” triggers a warm sensation in the person spoken to, and as the avatars hug in their virtual world, the act is mirrored in reality by a squeezing sensation around the waist.”

No word yet on the cost of the suit, or whether it will be made commercially available. But here’s the YouTube proof:

watch?v=Y84XbpDUVxc

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