Master of Science, Miami University, 2019, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Realistic haptic feedback is necessary to provide meaningful touch information to users of numerous technologies, such as virtual reality, mobile devices and robotics. For a device to convey realistic haptic feedback, two touch sensations must be present: tactile feedback and kinesthetic feedback. Tactile feedback is felt at the surface of one's skin and displays textures and vibrations, whereas kinesthetic feedback is felt in one's joints and muscles and transmits position and movement information. While many devices today display tactile feedback through vibrations, most neglect to incorporate kinesthetic feedback due to size constraints. To provide comprehensive feedback, this study investigates a new haptic device based on an unconventional actuation method: electrorheological (ER) fluid, a smart fluid with tunable yield stress under the application of electric field. The device's control electronics and structural components are integrated into a compact printed circuit board, resulting in a slim device suitable for mobile applications. By controlling the ER fluid flow via applied electric fields, the device can generate a wide and distinct range of both tactile and kinesthetic sensations. These sensations were derived analytically from ER fluid's governing equations as well as experimentally. The device may be used as a haptic interface between a user and virtual environment.

Committee: Jeong-Hoi Koo Ph.D. (Advisor); Tae-Heon Yang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Bailey Van Kuren Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Materials Science; Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science, Miami University, 2023, Mechanical Engineering

Available devices with smaller touchscreen displays (TSDs) offer users adequate haptic feedback, whereas larger TSDs still lack meaningful tactile sensations. This study is focused on rendering vibrotactile feedback on large TSDs. Existing methods for localized vibrotactile rendering on large TSDs use many actuators. Practically, using many actuators is not desirable due to space constraints, power supply limitations, etc., for consumer-centric large TSD devices. Therefore, this study investigates localized vibrotactile feedback on large TSDs using a restricted number of electrostatic resonant actuators (ERAs). Using flexible boundary conditions combined with multi-frequency excitation, a novel method is presented to render localized vibrotactile feedback for two types of large TSDs: a narrow touch bar and a rectangular touch surface. A method for managing/positioning localized haptic feedback on large TSDs is also investigated. In-house finite-element-based simulation models of TSDs are developed along with experimental prototypes for verifying the vibrotactile performance. The modeling and analysis strategy presented here is general and can be extended for haptic rendering methods of different touch surfaces, actuators, and boundary conditions. Finally, model-based parametric studies are presented for better design considerations and improved vibrotactile intensity.

Committee: Kumar Singh (Advisor); Jeong-Hoi Koo (Advisor); James Chagdes (Committee Member) Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science, Miami University, 2021, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Vibrotactile feedback is a key feature of many small touchscreen devices, but is often absent or incomplete in large touchscreen displays due to a lack of suitable actuators for such applications. Thus, a growing need exists for haptic actuators capable of producing meaningful feedback in large touch displays. This study proposes and evaluates a dual-electrode electrostatic resonant actuator (ERA) as a means to fulfill such a need. The dual-electrode ERA was compared to a similar singleelectrode ERA to study the effect of electrode configuration. It produced a maximum vibration 73% higher than the single-electrode actuator, showing promising potential for its use in large touchscreen applications. To study the ERA in a large display application, a prototype touch bar system with spring boundaries was designed, fabricated, and evaluated. By varying the number of actuators excited in the system, the actuators' magnitude, excitation frequency, and signal duration, a maximum vibration of 4 g-forces could be achieved throughout the majority of the display in both sustained and pulse sensations. This demonstrates a promising potential for generating a freely positionable and fully controllable point of vibrotactile stimulation at any point of a touch bar display. These results show the feasibility of the actuator spring boundary implementation and the dual-electrode ERA for large touchscreen display applications.

Committee: Jeong-Hoi Koo (Advisor); Tae-Heon Yang (Committee Member); James Chagdes (Committee Member) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE), Wright State University, 2023, Electrical Engineering

Stochastic resonance (SR) is a phenomenon that can enhance the detection or transmission of weak signals by adding random noise to a non-linear system. SR introduced into the human motor control system as a subthreshold mechanical vibration has shown promise to improve sensitivity to haptic feedback. SR can be valuable in a laparoscopic surgery application, where haptic feedback is critical. This research sought to find if applying SR to the human motor control system improves performance in a laparoscopic probing task, if the performance differs based on the location of stochastic resonance application, and if there are sustained effects from SR after its removal. Subjects were asked to perform a palpation task using a laparoscopic probe to determine whether a series of simulated tissue samples contained a tumor. Subjects in the treatment groups were presented with a series of samples under the following conditions: Pre-SR, SR applied to the forearm or elbow, and Post-SR. Subjects in the control group did not have SR applied at any point. Performance was measured through the accuracy of tissue assessment, subjects' confidence in their assessment, and assessment time. Data from 27 subjects were analyzed to investigate the application of stochastic resonance and its sustained effects to improve haptic feedback sensitivity in a simulated laparoscopic task. The forearm group was shown to have significant improvement in the accuracy of tissue identification and sensitivity to haptic feedback with the application of SR. Additionally, the forearm group showed a greater improvement in accuracy and sensitivity than the elbow group. Finally, after SR was removed, the forearm group showed sustained significant improvement in accuracy and sensitivity. Therefore, the experiment results supported the hypotheses that stochastic resonance improves subjects' performance and haptic perception, that performance improvement differs based on application location, and that subjec (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Luther Palmer III, Ph.D. (Advisor); Caroline Cao Ph.D. (Committee Member); Katherine Lin M.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Engineering; Biomedical Research; Engineering; Health; Health Care; Mechanical Engineering; Surgery

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2010, Mechanical Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

Modern virtual medical simulators have many advantages over their manikin counterparts. For example, they are more repeatable and reconfigurable. The virtual reality can be upgraded and modified to serve different training purposes. The goal of the Virtual Haptic Human Upper Body (VHHUB) research is to create a physiologically-correct human upper body for osteopathic medical gross motion palpation training using haptics and virtual reality technologies. The virtual human upper body is a 71 degrees-of- freedom multiple end-effectors, multi-branching serial chain model. It has fully movable thoracic and lumbar spinal regions plus two shoulders and two arms with a deformable body. Due to the complexity of the VHHUB model, we present a velocity inverse kinematic problem solver with dynamic pivot point. This method ensures a smooth synchronization rate between graphics and haptic hardware in real time. Fryette's principles are implemented in the VHHUB. Fryette's principles are one of the fundamental theories for the osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) to diagnose somatic dysfunctions. The VHHUB software is developed in a way to help osteopathic physicians or OMM fellows fine tune the program for their student's training. The haptic feedback of somatic dysfunctions can be modified by OMM faculty administrators without any knowledge of programming languages. The VHHUB provides an additional training tool for the osteopathic medical students to augment their osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) laboratory courses. VHHUB evaluation and recommendations for future research are presented. From the preliminary evaluation data, most medical students gave 7 or up (scale from 1 to 10: 1 is unrealistic and 10 is realistic) on the realism of the VHHUB. Medical students also felt the simulation gave them a useful tool for learning Fryette's principles.

Committee: Robert Williams II PhD (Committee Chair); Hajrudin Pasic PhD (Committee Member); Gursel Suer PhD (Committee Member); John Howell PhD (Committee Member); John Zook PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Robots

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2008, Mechanical Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

The Three Cable Haptic Interface (TCHI) prototype built by Williams et. al (2006) is improved by selecting and installing appropriate motors and designing cable reels which together successfully provided the proper amount of force for the intended application.Simulation was performed which showed that the required cable tension force rises almost linearly with frame size, but rises exponentially as the distance from the base plane (Y distance) decreases. Furthermore, it was determined from simulation that the required cable tension can be significantly lessened if the device is configured in such a way as to limited the workspace to approximately 6 cm from the top and sides and 13 cm from the imaginary diagonal which spans from top right motor to bottom left. The new TCHI prototype is theoretically able to exert 31N of continuous force on the user, a 10 fold improvement over the PHANToM 3.0 and has a nominal position resolution of 0.004mm, a 5 fold improvement over the PHANToM 3.0. The new TCHI prototype is also superior to the PHANToM 3.0 in terms of maximum exertable force, stiffness, cost, and workspace if configured properly.

Committee: Robert L. Williams II (Advisor); John Howell PhD (Committee Member); John Cotton PhD (Committee Member); Israel Urieli PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2007, Mechanical Engineering (Engineering)

This thesis presents a mechanical system design of a haptic cobot exoskeleton for use in physical therapy rehabilitation. The exoskeleton will be the first exoskeleton to offer cobot technology in a wearable haptic device. This exoskeleton provides a significant improvement in existing haptic exoskeleton technology by providing high performance haptic feedback while maximizing the user's safety. An overall system and subsystem design is presented; which includes a spherical 3RRR mechanism for the shoulder. A detailed design of the shoulder mechanism is presented in five parts: a range of motion study, the kinematic parameters, the kinematics, kinematic optimization and a collision study. The range of motion study is based anatomical data collected using a Flock of Birds motion capture device. The design process for optimization of the shoulder mechanism is presented in which the shoulder mechanism is optimized by examining the Jacobian matrix with the lowest inverse condition number and global condition index. The result is an practical design of a exoskeleton with a high performance shoulder mechanism that is capable of reaching nearly a quarter of workspace developed by the Flock of Birds.

Committee: Robert Williams II (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 1998, Mechanical Engineering (Engineering)

This thesis removed at the request of Ohio University (6/2013)

Committee: Robert Williams, II. (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2011, EECS - Electrical Engineering

Haptic interaction refers to interactivity with an environment based on the sense of touch. Haptics is a critical mode of human interface with real or virtual environments, as it is the only active form of perception. All other senses are passive and cannot directly act upon an environment. Haptic interface devices connect users to real or virtual environments through the modality of touch and associated sensory feedback. As the user interacts with environments through the haptic system, it alters the user's perception and motor control, which can affect task performance. Therefore, understanding a haptic system's effects on the sensory-motor system and the implications of these interactions on task performance is important for the design of effective haptic interface systems. This dissertation focused on characterization, modeling, and analysis of human motor performance in the context of stylus-based haptic interface devices. The current work combined human psychophysics experiments with analysis methods from system theory to model and study several aspects of human haptic interaction. The first contribution of this work was the identification of 3D linear dynamics and variability models for the arm and hand configured in a stylus grip. The literature contains many human arm dynamics models, but lacks detailed associated variability analyses. Without them, variability is modeled in a very conservative manner, leading to less than optimal controller and system designs. The current work not only presented models for human arm dynamics, but also developed inter and intra-subject variability models from human experiments. The second contribution of this work was the analysis of 3D point-to-point Fitts' reaching task in both real and virtual environments in order to determine the effect of visual field and haptic workspace co-location on task performance. A key finding was the significant decrease observed in end-point error for tasks performed in a co-located virtual (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: M. Cenk Cavusoglu PhD (Committee Chair); Wyatt S. Newman PhD (Committee Member); Kenneth A. Loparo PhD (Committee Member); Wei Lin PhD (Committee Member); Roger D. Quinn PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biophysics; Electrical Engineering; Systems Science

Master of Science, University of Akron, 2011, Computer Science

An artist needs a canvas to paint or draw to convey a message in the form of variable color composition in an aesthetic sense. A traditional canvas allows the artist to produce and preserve her work, which exists in two dimensions. This project is about building a software tool which allows an artist to explore further dimensionality of canvas through haptic perception. This haptic enabled tool supports multidimensional canvas for artist to work not only in 2D but also in 2.5D and 3D. For each dimension, an artist uses a canvas of different haptic feeling and each dimensionality allows added flexibilities in creating artworks.

Committee: Yingcai Xiao Dr. (Advisor); Eunsu Kang Dr. (Committee Member); Matthew Kolodziej Dr. (Committee Member); Chien-Chung Chan Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Computer Science

MS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Computer Science

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a series of a game interfaces to help in upper limb rehabilitation for individuals suffering with Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's Disease affects more than 10 million people worldwide. The games incorporate haptic feedback as a more engaging way of encouraging individuals to perform motor tasks. A haptic stylus pen will be used as the main method of interacting with the game interface and the main means of providing resisting force during the tasks, and the use of a virtual reality headset as a means of making the game experience more engaging and immersive. Validating the usability and efficacy of the game system towards upper limb rehabilitation by using data collected from participants of the prototype using three designed games: fishing, archery, and mining. For data collected with the prototype system, both healthy and Parkinson's Disease participants were asked to complete predefined task sessions and provide the usability ratings using a NASA Task Load Index after the sessions. Participants' skills and efficacy were assessed using task specific data (task completion time, hand motion tracking, task score within time limit, etc.) and were automatically recorded in the system for each session. The collected data will be used to improve or refine the game rehabilitation system and analysis the systems efficacy, usability, and potential for a comparable alternative to traditional Parkinson's rehabilitation. Both healthy and Parkinson's participants data have been analyzed and compared with one another and each other to find meaning full discussions and results to better improve the system and rehabilitation process, such as how haptic feedback has affected user performance for both healthy and Parkinson's Disease participants when it comes to completion times, scores, and movement trajectory. This data will be used as the basis of developing a more refined gaming rehabilitation syst (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kwangtaek Kim (Advisor); Angela Ridgel (Committee Member); Ruoming Jin (Committee Member); Jonathan Maletic (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science; Physical Therapy; Rehabilitation

MS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Computer Science

The integration of virtual reality (VR) and haptic feedback technologies in medical training offers a transformative approach to skill acquisition, particularly for intravenous (IV) needle insertion. This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a bimanual haptic VR simulator designed to enhance the training of nursing students in IV needle insertion. Traditional training methods often fall short due to limitations in realism, availability, and patient risk, leading to inadequate skill development and decreased practitioner confidence. The proposed simulator leverages the Unity game engine and incorporates haptic devices like the SenseGlove Nova and Geomagic Touch to provide realistic tactile feedback and immersive visual experiences. The simulator features detailed performance metrics, such as needle insertion angle, vein entry success, and vein stabilization accuracy, to provide comprehensive feedback and improve user proficiency. Additionally, the system incorporates variability in the virtual patient model, allowing trainees to experience a range of scenarios with different skin tones, vein visibility, and tattoos. User studies involving 41 nursing and non-nursing students demonstrated significant improvements in IV insertion success rates and confidence levels. Qualitative feedback indicated high satisfaction with the realism and educational value of the simulator. Quantitative results showed a notable increase in successful insertions and a decrease in procedural errors after using the simulator. Participants also appreciated the detailed feedback mechanisms and the ability to practice in a controlled, risk-free environment. The findings suggest that the HVR-IV training simulator is an effective tool for enhancing nursing education. By providing a scalable and immersive training solution, it can be integrated into nursing curricula to improve procedural skills and confidence, ultimately leading to better patient care outcomes and practitioner (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kwangtaek Kim (Advisor); Jeremy Jarzembak (Committee Member); Robert Clements (Committee Member); Hassan Peyravi (Committee Member); Xaing Lian (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

The Printing Press. Electricity. The Telephone. Television. The Internet. Although seemingly unrelated, these aforementioned items are all technologies. Technologies that have changed us in unimaginable ways, not just individually but on a global scale. Now so engrained in everyday life that one can only try to imagine what life was like before their invention and widespread adoption. Utilizing the power of a technology that is now readily available, the collegial education system will be pushed to the brink of a technology-based transformation. That technology is Virtual Reality. The covid-19 pandemic greatly increased the rate of acceptance and usage of online services in lieu of traditional in-person attendance models. The world may have physically distanced but with existing technologies such as the internet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom; education was able to continue. The shift towards completing tasks online resulted in an increased reliance on products and systems that catered to these alternative arrangements exposing flaws and displaying a need for the creation of a new system entirely. Many of the currently available products inadvertently aid students and professors in completing less work while appearing to be active, contradictory of a physical workplace where students and professors actions, attentiveness, and output are visible. In this paper I will discuss and propose a new type of Immersive Virtual Reality (I-VR) platform that can be a suitable environment for the industrial design studio to educate, retain productivity, communication, and build relationships between students and faculty while enabling a collaborative and accountable remote environment. This thesis shares a brief history and benefits of virtual reality from its emergence in the field of education, its use in design education, and its recent appearance in industrial design education through 2023. This thesis also shares an analysis of existing VR technology, its ap (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ming Tang M.Arch. (Committee Member); Steven Doehler M.A. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Design

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The Seminole Tribe of Florida (STOF) takes pride in its enduring history as the only Native Indian tribe that never surrendered to the U.S. government. The tribe's past is riddled with stories of overcoming several wars, forced emigration, territorial disputes, and cultural clashes, giving them the identity of being the “unconquered people.” Originally a hunter-gatherer culture, their memories and narratives are deep-rooted to the terrain of the Everglades and are written through the haptic and somasthetic engagement with the geography. These memories were self-contained in the past as the tribe was in tension with both the interests of the U.S. government that tried to displace them from Florida and the early settlers encroaching on their land into the Everglades. Over time, the tribe had to expose themselves out of necessity through the sectors of trade and tourism to make ends meet, through establishments which came to be known as Indian Villages. Although these eco-villages became a place to share the Seminole stories, cultural appropriation also played a huge part in its cultural consumption. The Indian village was an answer that put the Seminole culture on the map, but it begs the question of how Seminole narratives can be shared more sensitively, respecting the cultural identity. As the Seminole narratives are embedded in one of the most unique landscapes in the world, the Everglades, spatial perceptions play a profound role. Through the lens of phenomenology, this paper investigates how collective and personal memories related to cultural identity can translate into a metaphysical narrative through architecture – to concretize and experience memories through a multi-sensorial stimulation of both mind and body, thereby giving tactility and form to an impalpable cognitive function.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, EECS - Electrical Engineering

This thesis describes the creation of a teleoperation system intended for acquiring data suitable for interpreting and teaching human skills to a robot. In the system, a human operator views a 3-D virtual-reality display as transmitted from the robotic system. The operator moves a hand-held controller to move the robot's end effector and to open/close the gripper. The operator performs teleoperated manipulation tasks while sensory data and command data are logged. Since the logged data includes all sensory information available to the operator and all commands from the operator, the captured data will provide a basis for studying and encoding manipulation strategies suitable for robots.

Committee: Wyatt Newman (Committee Chair); Francis Merat (Committee Member); Gregory Lee (Committee Member) Subjects: Robotics

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

In an age where we can avoid hand-drawing and hand-making for the sake of convenience and timesaving, it seems we might prematurely be abandoning them. The benefits of drawing and writing by hand on cognitive development and concentration are numerous, and research supports that developing a reflective practice is rewarding for personal and professional development. Students in traditional design schools, specifically the field of graphic design, are educated with high emphasis on technical production skills—yet what is absent is instruction for developing a reflective practice that links design projects, lived experience, tacit knowledge, and generative ideation toward the robust development of successful design outcomes. More specifically—and the focus of this thesis—is the opportunity for the inclusion of a haptic reflective practice in graphic design education. Such a haptic reflective practice, which includes drawing and writing by hand, has the potential to support students in bridging implicit awarenesses with tangible knowledge outcomes in the design development process. Through an examination of literature from the fields of qualitative research, education, and art and design, and the author's own haptic reflective practice involving drawing and writing as inquiry methods, this thesis explores an under-championed haptic reflective practice in graphic design education. As the initial step in building a rationale for a future case study, this project exemplifies practice-led reflection-on-action to demonstrate a graphic design student's journey from tacit understanding to informed intuition in the design development process.

Committee: Vittoria Daiello Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Meera Rastogi Ph.D. (Committee Member); Brian Schumacher (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2016, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology MS

Effects of tactile and audio feedback are examined in the context of touchscreen and mobile use. Prior experimental research is graphically summarized by task type (handheld text entry, tabletop text entry, non-text input), tactile feedback type (active, passive), and significant findings, revealing a research gap evaluating passive tactile feedback in handheld text entry (a.k.a. “texting”). A passive custom tactile overlay is evaluated in a new experiment wherein 24 participants perform a handheld text entry task on an iPhone under four tactile and audio feedback conditions with measures of text entry speed and accuracy. Results indicate audio feedback produces better performance, while the tactile overlay degrades performance, consistent with reviewed literature. Contrary to previous findings, the combined feedback condition did not produce improved performance. Findings are discussed in light of skill-based behavior and feed-forward control principles described by Gibson (1966) and Rasmussen (1983).

Committee: Kevin Bennett Ph.D. (Advisor); John Flach Ph.D. (Committee Member); Scott Watamaniuk Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Computer Engineering; Computer Science; Design; Engineering; Experiments; Industrial Engineering; Information Technology; Physiological Psychology; Psychology; Systems Design; Systems Science; Technology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Arts and Sciences : Psychology

The perceived heaviness of non-visible wielded objects has been shown to be a function of the rotational inertia of the object…rdquo;the resistance the object offers to applied wielding torques (e.g., Amazeen & Turvey, 1996). However, when visual information about the object is available rotational inertia alone does not account for the perception of heaviness (e.g., Amazeen, 1997). Thus far, two visual influences on heaviness perception have been documented: Influences related to object size (i.e., larger objects are perceived as lighter than smaller objects; e.g., Ellis & Lederman, 1993) and those related to the kinematics of object motion (e.g., Runeson & Frykholm, 1981). Streit, Shockley, and Riley (2007b) established a link between rotational inertia and visual kinematic influences on heaviness perception demonstrating that changes in apparent rotational kinematics specified a change in rotational inertia, which, in turn, specified a change in multimodally-perceived heaviness. The nature of visual influences on heaviness perception remains unclear. Can purely visual kinematic and size influences on heaviness perception be understood in terms of an inertial model of heaviness perception? The present research was designed to evaluate the nature of visual influences on heaviness perception.In two experiments, participants judged the heaviness of objects either multimodally (vision + dynamic touch) or visually (based on recordings of the wielding motion generated by multimodal perceivers) under manipulations of apparent object responsiveness and changes in rotational inertia (Experiment 1) or changes in apparent responsiveness and apparent size (Experiment 2). It was shown in Experiment 1 that visual heaviness perception was not reliably sensitive to changes in rotational inertia, but was to changes in apparent responsiveness. It was shown in Experiment 2 that both wielding kinematics and apparent size influenced visual heaviness perception. Specifically, heaviness (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kevin Shockley PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Riley PhD (Committee Member); Sarah Cummins-Sebree PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

This thesis explores the psychological and architectural relationships between video gaming and architecture as they both relate to the senses in order to design an educational facility for video game development. Gestalt psychology has many theories of sensual perception, such as visual organization theories that can directly enhance or influence architectural content. Alternately, a “rejection” of Gestalt is explored to engage users in a conflicting experience. A design metaphor of space generation using the senses as a structural space-defining material is investigated along with exploring video game spatial structures in architecture. Sensual perception, spatial formation using the senses, and other design investigations of the interaction between architecture and video gaming are explored for design. Furthermore, this thesis also explores some of the other aspects of the overlap of architecture and video gaming, such as formal elements of the video game medium like spatial structures, imagery, and interactivity.

Committee: Michael McInturf (Advisor) Subjects:

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Arts and Sciences : Psychology

Hand-held tools vary in their suitability for different tasks. A good hammer may not be a good poker, because what makes a tool a good hammer—having most of its mass concentrated at the distal end—makes the tool hard to control when used as a poker. Research has demonstrated that perceivers can use the haptic perceptual subsystem of dynamic touch to perceive whether a tool is suitable for performing a given task—in other words, to perceive a tool's affordances or possibilities for action (Wagman & Carello, 2001, 2003). In four experiments I investigated perception of affordances of hockey sticks for performing power (transferring maximal force) and precision (intercepting a moving object) tasks. I manipulated the sticks' mass distributions to vary the physical properties that made the sticks more or less well suited for power and precision actions (bottom-heavy sticks allow for greater force transfer, but are less controllable, whereas top-heavy sticks are controllable but afford less forceful hitting). Participants wielded the sticks in the absence of vision and haptically gauged the suitability of the sticks for power and precision tasks. The aims of the project were to (1) determine if perceivers could accurately and prospectively (without prior experience or feedback) judge the suitability of differently weighted sticks for power or precision tasks (Experiment I); (2) determine the effects of actually using the sticks to perform power-hitting and precision-interception actions on the same judgments (Experiments II & III); and (3) determine the role of expertise in perceiving affordances of the sticks (Experiment IV). The results supported the notion that people can use dynamic touch to accurately perceive affordances of an object, and also revealed that expertise (Experiment IV-a) and even the very limited experience and feedback obtained when novices performed the power-hitting task (Experiments II, III, & IVb) elicited sensitivity to unanticipated precision re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Michael Riley (Advisor) Subjects: