Intuitively controlling the hand of a virtual character or a robot manipulator is difficult. We developed Hands On, a real-time, adaptive animation interface, driven by compliant contact and force information, for animating contact and precision manipulations of virtual objects. Using our interface, the user controls an abstract grasp trajectory while the full hand pose is automatically shaped by proactive adaptation and compliant scene interactions. Haptic force feedback enables intuitive control by mapping interaction forces from the full virtual hand back to the reduced user interface, invoking the same human sensorimotor processes utilized in natural precision manipulations.
We also introduce a novel approach for online, adaptive shaping of the animated manipulator based on prior interactions, resulting in more functional and appealing motions. The importance of haptic feedback for authoring virtual object manipulations is verified in a user study with nonexpert participants that examines contact force trajectories while using our interface. Comparing the quality of motions produced with and without force rendering, haptic feedback is shown to be critical for efficiently communicating contact forces and dynamic events to the user.
Sever motion sequences, created using the interface are demonstrated in the video below.
References
- B. Humberston and D. K. Pai, “Hands On: Interactive Animation of Precision Manipulation and Contact,” in Proceedings of the ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation, Los Angeles, CA, August 7-9, 2015. pp. 63–72. Best Paper Award. [DOI]