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Predicting audio step feedback for real walking in virtual environments
Author(s) -
Zank Markus,
Nescher Thomas,
Kunz Andreas
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
computer animation and virtual worlds
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.225
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1546-427X
pISSN - 1546-4261
DOI - 10.1002/cav.1611
Subject(s) - computer science , haptic technology , gait , accelerometer , swing , matching (statistics) , virtual reality , virtual machine , ground truth , artificial intelligence , simulation , human–computer interaction , computer vision , physiology , statistics , physics , mathematics , acoustics , biology , operating system
When navigating in virtual environments by using real walking, the correct auditory step feedback is usually ignored, although this could give more information to the user about the ground he is walking on. One reason for this is time constraints that hinder a replay of a walking sound synchronous to the haptic step feedback when walking. In order to add a matching step feedback to virtual environments, this paper introduces a calibration‐free system, which can predict the occurrence time of a step‐down event based on an analysis of the user's gait. For detecting reliable characteristics of the gait, accelerometers and gyroscopes are used, which are mounted on the user's foot. Because the proposed system is capable of detecting the characteristic events in the foot's swing phase, it allows a prediction that gives enough time to replay sound synchronous to the haptic sensation of walking. In order to find the best prediction regarding prediction time and accuracy, data gathered in an experiment is analyzed regarding reliably occurring characteristics in the human gait. Based on this, a suitable prediction algorithm is proposed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.