Ultrasound haptic feedback for multimodal interaction with virtual environments

As digital technologies become increasingly pervasive, it becomes ever more essential to understand human interactions between real and virtual worlds. Part of this includes the relationship between the physical world and digital representations of oneself in 3D virtual spaces. This PhD will investigate the challenges of using multimodal interaction devices in a virtualised engineering design process, in which physical mock-ups are replaced with virtual prototypes to reduce cost and time in the product development lifecycle. Recent developments in ultrasound technologies mean that haptic feedback can be provided without direct contact with a mechanical device, providing opportunities to improve interactions with virtual design spaces. The PhD will not only address the fundamental research underpinning human interaction with multimodal 3D spaces, but will be applied to product development (i.e. consumer goods) and other areas such as training, entertainment, and sales.