ThermoGloves, 2018.
Our sense of the environment depends on far more than just visual and audio cues. Our bodies are attuned to other aspects such as temperature and smells - so why is it that current virtual reality systems focus only on visual/audio immersion? We have built a pair of gloves that change temperature based on the environment seen while wearing a VR headset to induce further emotional and visceral immersion. We also built two VR environments with a strong thermal component. From our limited trials and live demonstrations, we have seen people experience joy at being able to feel the warmth of a virtual campfire on their hands in the middle of a very eerie forest.
ThermoGloves Team
Design
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The team is comprised of two graduate students, Julia and Michael, in the School of Information and two undergraduates, Sophia and Madi, from the cognitive science department. Julia has a background in architecture/design with an interest in making VR spatial experiences more intuitive. Michael is a CS graduate with a love of making and the technical know-how to built just about anything. Sophia is a senior with a background in neurobiology and behavioural psychology and Madi is a Berkeley graduate in the cognitive science department.
Michael Gutensohn
Master of Information Management & Systems 2020 (also B.S. Computer Science from Rollins College)
Julia Park
Master of Information Management & Systems 2020 (also B. Arch and B.S. in Architectural Engineering at UT Austin 2016)
Madison Hight
B.A.S. in Cognitive and Computer Science 2018
Sophia Batchelor
B.A. ISF and B.A. in Psychology 2019
Michael Gutensohn
Master of Information Management & Systems 2020 (also B.S. Computer Science from Rollins College)
Julia Park
Master of Information Management & Systems 2020 (also B. Arch and B.S. in Architectural Engineering at UT Austin 2016)
Madison Hight
B.A.S. in Cognitive and Computer Science 2018
Sophia Batchelor
B.A. ISF and B.A. in Psychology 2019