| Description |
The purpose of the project was to include environmental effects within the Virtual Reality (VR) system, Treadport Active Wind Tunnel (TPAWT), and to evaluate the resulting system. The TPAWT was modified to include several haptic environmental displays: heat, wind, olfactory, and mist, resulting in the Multi-Sensory TreadPort Active Wind Tunnel (MS.TPAWT). 120 participants played a VR game that contained three startling situations: audio levels and environmental effects were varied for each participant in a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) study. Participants then answered surveys to validate realism of the system. Results of the study indicate that individual haptic displays within MS.TPAWT are noticeable and overall, increase perceived realism of the VR world. |
