Dynamic Compression for Novel Haptic Interactions
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Dynamic Compression for Novel Haptic Interactions A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Wen Yen Esther Foo IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Advisor: Dr. Brad Holschuh December 2020 © 2020 Wen Yen Esther Foo Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor and Wearable Technology Lab (WTL) co-director, Dr. Brad Holschuh for his unwavering guidance throughout my time here at the University of Minnesota. He has given me the best experience a doctoral student could ask for, and I am very appreciative of him for entrusting me with the creative freedom to pursue ideas that interests me. I am also eternally grateful to our other lab co-director and committee member, Dr. Lucy Dunne for her valuable perspectives that has helped me grow tremendously as a researcher. I owe much of my professional and personal development to the mentoring and support they have both always given me—thank you both for all that you’ve done. I would also like to thank the other members of my advisory committee, Dr. Lana Yarosh and Dr. Peggy Martin, for their help, constructive feedback, and encouragement throughout this research process. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to be part of the WTL—I’ve met, worked with, and learned from many amazing people throughout my time here. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my WTL co-authors on this project: Walter Lee, Simon Ozbek, Justin Baker, Crystal Compton, as well as undergrads: Miles Priebe, Mary Korlin-Downs, and Justin Barry, who have all contributed greatly to this research effort. Special appreciation for our WTL lab manager Heidi Woelfle for putting up with my never-ending requests and for being so patient in teaching me all that has to do with soft goods. Huge thank you also to all other WTL lab members—there are too many to name—for their positivity and support, and to our WTL alumni and my good friends Nika Gagliardi and Mary Ellen Berglund, for keeping me sane and motivated throughout the writing process (special thanks to Nika for some editing support as well). I am delighted to have worked with all of you and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! I owe a great deal of gratitude to both my parents who have been supporting me mentally and financially throughout my time here in the US. They never had the opportunity to attend college but have selflessly spent a significant portion of their lives making sure that I could enjoy all these opportunities. Without their support and sacrifice, I would not be here—I am forever i indebted to them. Finally and most importantly, my deepest appreciation goes to my husband, Ziqing Lin for his unparalleled love and support throughout this journey. Thank you for always supporting my crazy decisions of running around the country in the pursuit of my professional goals, for sharing your wisdom on how to navigate the academic world, and for all your encouragement that has motivated me till the very end. I know in my heart had I never met you, I would never have achieved this dream of mine. I am lucky to have you in my life and I am excited for what the future brings! While I cannot comprehensively acknowledge all who have supported me throughout this journey, I am grateful for all the people who have been there for me, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. This has been a fantastic learning experience and a great journey that I will cherish for the rest of my life. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant # 1656995), University of Minnesota Grand Challenges Research Grant, University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF), and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Technical Committee on Haptics ‘Innovation in Haptics’ Program. ii Abstract The sense of touch is an integral part of our everyday experiences. One of the touch sensations that we experience ubiquitously is compression—common human interactions of being held, swaddled, hugged, and squeezed, all involve compressive forces on the body. The use of compression as an interaction modality offers advantages of resembling common human behaviors, and is capable of invoking a range of attention depending on compression features, while being less distracting than typical vibrotactile approaches. Compression as a form of haptic stimulus is also widely used in medical interventions (e.g., compression stockings/vests) and has the potential to be integrated into new research areas such as mediated social touch, distributed notification systems, and immersive experiences, yet we know very little about it. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of the perceptual/experiential impacts given varying compression parameters on large areas of the body, as well as the ability of extending this form of sensory stimulation to functional applications. Hence, this dissertation examines, in detail, on-body compression as a novel interface and mode of interaction: specifically, it seeks to answer questions related to how people experience compression stimulus given varying compression inputs, applications and contexts. Motivated by the need to effectively study this problem, we also made strides in advancing compression technologies. Using a human-centered approach of gathering user feedback and incorporating them into design iterations, we developed soft, garment-based technologies capable of delivering dynamically controllable compression, involving varying upper-body locations, intensity, durations, and patterns. For the first time, we demonstrated the use of shape memory alloys (SMAs)—a type of soft robotic actuator—to controllably generate compression across distributed areas of the body. The use soft actuator elements integrated into garments are a crucial element in this development process; the garment platform offers intimacy, direct access to large body areas, social ubiquity, and enhanced wearability. Given the enabling technology (and also motivated by the interface/interaction opportunities afforded by this technology), we studied the parameters and confounds that influence user experience, taking iii into consideration how the sensations were perceived, the effects on user comfort, and subjective preferences. The three major takeaways include: (1) importance of sizing and fit, (2) individual preferences and the need for customizability, and (3) the relationship between context-specific stimulation patterns and emotional reactions. Based on the understanding of the experiential effects of on-body compression provided through the SMA-based garments, several candidate applications were down-selected and investigated. Given the close relationship between social touch and emotions, one area of huge potential involves technology-mediated affective applications (i.e., technology that support the detection, display, or communication of affect). Hence, leveraging the inherent SMA properties as being capable of providing warm, compressive actuation—acting as a proxy for human touch, we mapped the design space for garment-mediated emotional communication through warm, compressive forces. Two online surveys were deployed to gather user expectations in using garment-mediated warm, compression (of varying body location, intensity, pattern) to communicate 7 distinct emotions, while evaluating the range of mental models used. The findings show 5 major mental model categories: (1) representation of body sensations, (2) replication of typical social touch strategies, (3) metaphorical representation of emotions, (4) symbolic representation of physical actions, and (5) mimicry of objects or tasks. The employment frequency of each of these mental frameworks and haptic parameters were synthesized to inform future haptic garment design approaches for emotional communication. Further, from participant feedback and literature support that has provided evidence that compression could elicit positive affect or feelings of calm, another area of investigation was on the use of compression for affect modulation. Through a mindful meditation study augmented with compressive haptics delivered through the SMA-based garment, we demonstrate the potential of using compression to improve user’s meditation experience and in the long-run, help users more effectively regulate their emotions. Ultimately, the results of this research give rise to new opportunities in a variety of applications and provide a roadmap for interface/interaction design in those context, including enabling new modes of interaction between users separated by distance (e.g., tele-rehabilitation, social mediated touch) as well as new haptic sensations in the area of immersive experiences (e.g., media augmentation, virtual reality). iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... i Abstract ................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ xi 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................