Concept
The Virtual Haptic Radar (VHR) is an extension of the Haptic Radar [1] principle and technique in the realm of virtual reality. The goal is to help (real) actors evolve and interact seamlessly with virtual scenery and virtual objects in a VR-augmented filming stage (such as a bluescreen filming stage). The previously developed Haptic Radar (HR) is akin to an array of artificial "optical whiskers” that extends the body schema of the wearer: each HR module was fitted with a rangefinder constantly measuring distances to obstacles; tiny motors vibrate accordingly, effectively informing the wearer of a potential collision (the closer the object, the stronger the vibration). The VHR is an extension of this principle in the realm of virtual reality: the wearable modules do not have a rangefinder with which to sense the presence of real physical obstacles; instead, they contain a cheap indoor positioning system that gives them the ability to know exactly where they are relatively to an external frame of reference (e.g. the filming studio). Each module also maintains a simplified 3d map of the current virtual scene that can be updated wirelessly. If the module founds that its own position is inside the force field of a virtual object, it will vibrate.