Weight Sensory Presentation Considering Impulsive Force of Ball Kicking by a Force Feedback Exoskeleton using MR Fluid Brakes

In recent years, the widespread use of head-mounted displays (HMDs) has made virtual reality (VR) spaces more accessible. In order to further improve the sense of reality, force feedback devices have been developed to give the user the sensation of operating a virtual object. Generally, installed devices are large and it is difficult to experience them by moving around in the space. Therefore, we focused on wearable exoskeleton-type devices and developed a force feedback device for the lower limb using an MR fluid brake that operates passively. In this study, we tested whether the user can distinguish the difference in the weight of a ball during a ball kicking action. The wearer can feel the weight of the ball when the presented torque is increased or when the applied time is lengthened. The wearers felt the weight of the kicking ball to be heavier when the presented torque was increased or the applied time was lengthened, but the sense of reality decreased when the applied time was lengthened. The results suggest that simply increasing the impulse by lengthening the applied time is not sufficient to present a sense of weight.