Subotron arcademy: Playing games through our bodies: Muscle-propelled force feedback

Veranstaltungsreihe zur Theorie von digitalen Spielen 2014

Pedro Lopes
Human Computer Interaction lab in Hasso Plattner Institut, Berlin

Pedros research points out that “feeling forces” through your body is the next step for increased realism in human computer interfaces, and a way of creating very small mobile devices. For a long time, the key to immersion in interactive experience and games was sought in photorealistic graphics. Now, interfaces and games became more immersive by requiring us to physically enact, such as with Wii or Kinect. With graphics and user interaction now part of many games, many researchers argue that haptics and motion are the next step towards increasing realism. However, when it comes to output, we have nothing more than vibrating buzzers, such as the ones that make our smartphones vibrate. In this talk, Pedro shows compelling new ultra-mobile technologies that provide exciting haptic feedback. The approach achieves a low hardware footprint by leveraging the user’s own muscle power through electrical-muscle stimulation! Pedro demonstrates how his research enables mobile interactive devices to become more immersive without sacrificing their form factor.
The session will end with a “body-on” demo session, in which the audience is invited to experience these muscle-propelled interfaces!

Kurzbiographie
Pedro Lopes is a PhD student of Prof. Patrick Baudisch’s Human Computer Interaction lab in Hasso Plattner Institut, Berlin. Pedro investigates future interfaces that read & write directly to the user’s body, such as muscle-interfaces. A believer on the unification of art and research, often gives talks about it. Makes and writes music using turntables. Enjoys writing about music [in jazz.pt magazine] and tech [as digital content editor at ACM XRDS].