LAUSR

In this study, using a personal vehicle (i.e. Segway) and a wheelchair-type motion display, we proposed a vehicle-ride sensation sharing system to enable a local rider to collaborate with a remote driver immersively. The local rider sitting in the motion display can receive both the 3D visual perception and the vibro-vestibular sensation. The remote driver side of the system was developed by attaching the Segway with two 360-degree cameras and a stabilizer to capture stereoscopic 3D images and send them to each eye of a head-mounted display worn by a local rider. By modifying a conventional wheelchair with a simple, lightweight mechanism for actuation and vibration by two DC motors, we developed the prototype of the vibro-vestibular display for local riders. Then, we investigated the effectiveness of a vibro-vestibular wheelchair. The result showed that the acceleration/deceleration of the wheelchair proportional to that of visual cue could significantly reduce virtual reality (VR) sickness by approximately 54% and increase the sense of riding a vehicle by approximately 2.25 times. Moreover, we conducted a demo experience in SIGGRAPH ASIA 2019 for 3 days and 89 participants filled the questionnaire related to our system validation. The results suggested that vibro-vestibular feedback by the wheelchair is important for remote collaboration that uses a mobile vehicle. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT