Virtual reality garment capable of jamming user movement
A virtual reality system including a garment worn by a user, such as a glove, includes a jamming that jams movement of a portion of the user's body by increasing a rigidity of certain portions of the garment or by preventing a certain portion of the garment from expanding past a certain length. This allows the garment to simulate the physical sensation that occurs when the user touches an object. For example, to simulate the sensation of holding a coffee mug, the jamming mechanism prevents the user's fingers from curling after the user's fingers have reached a position equivalent to making physical contact with the coffee mug.
1. A system comprising:
a console coupled to an electronic display in a head mounted display, the console configured to provide content to the electronic display for presentation to a user; and
a glove configured to be worn on a hand of the user and coupled to the console, the glove comprising:
one or more sensors configured to detect spatial and motion information about the glove and to provide the detected spatial and motion information to the console, and
one or more jamming systems coupled to the console and configured to modify one or more portions of the glove in response to information received from the console to counteract a movement detected by the one or more sensors, the modification comprising reducing flexibility in one or more portions of the glove.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein a jamming system comprises a tendon secured to a portion of the glove and enclosing a volume of fluid, the jamming system configured to increase the volume of fluid enclosed by the tendon in response to the jamming system receiving information from the console to counteract the movement detected by the one or more sensors.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the portion of the glove to which the tendon is secured corresponds to a location of a joint of the hand of the user.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein a jamming system comprises a string secured to a portion of the glove and coupled to a shaft of a motor included in the glove, the motor configured to rotate an apply a torque to the string in response to the jamming system receiving information from the console to counteract the movement detected by the one or more sensors.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the jamming system comprises a plurality of strings parallel to each other secured to the portion of the glove and coupled to the shaft of the motor included in the glove.