Virtual Super-Leaping

Abstract

People sometimes imagine and yearn for a "Super Power," an ability they do not have naturally. In this paper, we propose Virtual Super-Leaping (VSL) as an immersive virtual experience that provides the feeling of extreme jumping in the sky. First, we define the necessary feedback elements and classify the action sequence of Super-Leaping, including the design of the multimodal feedback for each action state. Then, we describe the design of the VSL system, which has two components: (i) visual a head-mounted display-based feedback, and (ii) a VSL-enabling haptic device, which provides both kinesthesia and airflow using multiple synchronized propeller units. We end by reporting on our technical evaluation and public demonstrations. This work contributes to the enhancement of immersive virtual experiences and development of devices for human augmentation.