SimFeel: Haptic Glove to Incorporate Touch to the VR Experience

My masters capstone was to create a haptic wearable device for VR/AR applications. My team consisted of myself and two other M.Eng. students, who also studied mechanical engineering. The advisor, Dr. Liwei Lin, proposed the capstone prompt as a way to integrate developing actuator technology into a commercializable product. However, after one semester attempting to replicate a PhD student's soft actuator, we decided to use off the shelf materials to create our capstone. The haptic glove, titled "SimFeel", utilized coin motors and flex sensors to create haptic feedback based on localized finger flexion. To show the potential of haptic devices in the VR industry, we set up a demonstration. Two users were wearing a haptic glove, with one user being blindfolded. One user would be instructed to flex different fingers, and both users would feel vibration in the corresponding finger. The blindfolded user would guess which finger the other user bent based on the vibration sensation.

Since I am in a professional masters program, capstone teams were expected to implement teaming and project management skills into their project. I was the team lead of my capstone. As team lead, I organized meeting notes and tools, such as Notion, to keep the team on track with deadlines and goals. Additionally, I often took the initative to push my team to keep making goals and make decisions when we faced roadblocks. This capstone pushed me to practice project scheduling and goal setting skills. While my main role was to a project manager, I also aided in fabrication of the product. I was able to practice rapid prototyping and fabrication skills for wearable devices.

The final deliverables for my capstone include a presentation to the Fung Institute, a technical report, a comprehesive leadership and technical exam, and a live demonstration at the capstone showcase.