Visuo-Tactile Feedback with Hand Outline Styles for Modulating Affective Roughness Perception.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality
• Haptics

Background:

• Prior research on virtual reality (VR) texture perception focused on object-based textures and vibrotactile feedback.
• The influence of visual feedback, specifically on virtual hands, on affective roughness perception is underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a visuo-tactile feedback method combining virtual hand visualization and fingertip vibrations.
• To investigate how affective visual cues (line shape, motion, color) on virtual hands modulate affective responses (arousal, valence) and perceived roughness in VR.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel visuo-tactile feedback system integrating virtual hand outlines with affective visual cues.
• Presented participants with varying visual cues (sharp vs. smooth contours, different colors) and haptic intensities.
• Measured perceived roughness, arousal, and valence as affective responses.

Main Results:

• Sharp visual contours on virtual hands significantly enhanced perceived roughness and increased arousal, while reducing valence.
• Color cues primarily affected valence, with red consistently decreasing emotional positivity.
• Visual cues extended affective modulation into mid-level perceptual ranges, particularly at lower haptic intensities.

Conclusions:

• Integrating expressive visual cues with tactile feedback offers a powerful method for enriching affective rendering in VR.
• This approach allows for flexible emotional tuning of user experiences in immersive virtual environments.
• Visual feedback on virtual hands plays a crucial role in modulating affective perception beyond object textures.