Development of Wheelchair Simulator with the Consideration of the Feeling of Body Attitude

Abstract

In this study we developed a wheelchair simulator, which has visual presentation, force feedback and reproduction of motion, using virtual reality technology. The position and attitude of the wheelchair are presented to the operator as the motion of a six-axis motion base. Through a head-mounted display, a computer graphics system provides the operator with scenery that changes in accordance with the wheelchair's operation. We evaluated, firstly, relation between human's consciousness and feeling when force feedback and reproduction of motion were presented. Consequently, it was clarified that sense of force feedback and reproduction of motion complement each other. Moreover, we evaluated the performance of the simulator, which simulates the movement of wheelchair based on the mathematical equation. As the results, the simulator proved adequate quality for presentation of the feeling.