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A ‘Digital Foam’ material that recognizes and responds to touch.
About
BACKGROUND Researchers at The University of South Australia’s Wearable Computer Lab (WCL) have developed a ‘Digital Foam’ material that recognizes and responds to touch. The foam material is highly flexible and can accurately detect multiple simultaneous deformations in its surface. Several applications for Digital Foam are anticipated, from an augmented reality controller and home entertainment games controllers, to medical mannequins used for training surgeons and doctors. TECHNOLOGY Surface modeling and geometry capture are used in a range of fields including Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), computer graphics, medical imaging, visualization systems, and artistic fields. To support these systems, a variety of input devices and techniques have been developed to assist the modeling process. Digital Foam presents a novel and unique technology that enables the capture of the size and shape of a piece of foam. With this information the foam can be wrapped around hard surfaces, and can capture precise touch-based movements with various degrees of pressure. The technology allows for accuracy, control and manipulation of the surface via soft, touchable controls and has the potential for numerous applications.
Key Benefits
• Easy detection of deformation in a material’s surface - no cameras required • Can detect multiple touchpoints, and the pressure applied at each point • Ability to refine the required levels of accuracy from 0.5mm - 2mm • Flexible and lightweight, allowing foam to be wrapped around different shaped objects for measurement
Applications
The technology is ideally suited to applications where a highly flexible, soft material can be used as a means to control or respond to single or multiple touches. Example applications include: • AR/VR input controllers • ‘Smart skin’ for medical practitioner training • Digital clay for facial reconstruction or special effects • Sports training, for study of hand grip, position and pressure • Gaming consoles and mobile devices • Soft controls to replace solid controls in confined areas