Transmitting feelings over a network

Closed Eyes Telehaptic Communication
system version II

Description
A fully immersive, intimate virtual reality experience for two or more people in different physical locations. The portable devices connects to laptops with wireless Internet connections. You hear your partner's breath with spatialized 3D sound on comfortable headphones. You feel their heartbeat and virtual location recreated through 16 digitally controlled miniature vibrating outputs in a hat and vest.

User Scenario
You sit comfortably, eyes closed, wearing a device which senses your breathing, the beat of your heart, and the exact tilt of your head. If you open your eyes, you can see a simple circular space displayed on a monitor, and the virtual positions of you and your partner. You only open your eyes to get initially oriented. Closing your eyes, your minds eye takes over, making the virtual space real.

Your partner is similarly equipped. They feel your virtual presence as your actual heartbeat recreated as a vibration on the surface of their body, pointing to where you are in the single space you both imagine. The location of the vibration they feel, coincides exactly with the spatial location of the 3D sound they hear: one musical note each time you inhale, another as you exhale.

You too, intimately hear and feel exactly where your virtual partner is, in relation to yourself. You gently tilt your head in the direction you wish to move through the virtual terrain (your head acts like a joystick). You might feel them in front, and tilt your head forward to approach, they feel you move toward them as your heart beat becomes a stronger vibration, and music of your breath get louder. If they turn, you feel and hear them move away, hearing their breath and feeling the beat of their heart recede.

System
Custom hardware and software fabricated in duplicate to create system of two functional prototypes. Possibility exists for more than two simultaneous users. Microcontrollers process data from a variety of sensors for input (FSRs, dual-axis accelerometers, heart-rate monitor), haptic output precisely switched and modulated PWM to vibrating motors. Each identical unit can connect via serial or USB connection to a PC or Macintosh laptop with wireless Internet connection.