CAREER: Designing Next-Generation Thermal User Interfaces for Multisensory VR Experiences

This project explores how to add a realistic sense of skin temperature in virtual reality (VR) so that virtual experiences can be more immersive and intuitive. Current VR systems often rely on sight and sound, leaving out how hot or cold a surface or object feels, limiting the ability to simulate real-world settings. This research takes a new approach called “thermal masking” to create a feeling of hot or cold at precise places on the body without having large, high-power devices. This research will make VR systems easier to use, lower power, and more practical for application areas such as education, training, and entertainment. This project will advance science and technology by making VR more realistic and user-friendly. It will enhance national prosperity and welfare by making new and better tools for learning, training, and interactive experiences. To achieve these goals, the project will address critical challenges in the design of VR systems by developing innovative thermal user interfaces that integrate thermal and tactile feedback. The research focuses on three objectives. The first objective is to understand the interplay of temperature and touch sensations to create realistic thermal illusions through thermal masking. The second objective is to advance rendering techniques to generate dynamic and continuous temperature changes in two-dimensional space. The third objective is to optimize actuator placement and system design to balance energy efficiency, performance, and usability. These activities will leverage thermal-tactile integration to achieve precise temperature feedback while minimizing bulk and power requirements. The project will employ experiments to map the spatial and temporal dynamics of thermal masking, develop algorithms for rendering thermal patterns, and validate the interfaces in VR applications. The outcomes are expected to improve a user’s sense of immersion, simplify the engineering of multisensory VR systems, and enable a broader range of applications and interactions in virtual environments. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.