Funneling and Saltation Effects for Tactile Interaction with "Detached" Out of the Body Virtual Objects

In a previous work, we confirmed the existing effects of “Out of the Body” tactile illusion for virtual and augmented objects through funneling and saltation. However, it required a virtual imagery to be attached to the user for directly extending one’s body. This paper aims at investigating similar phantom tactile sensations exist when the virtual object is visually detached from the user’s body. Two usability experiments were conducted to verify the hypothesized phantom tactile effects: one for funneling and the other, saltation. Our results have shown that in addition to the perception of the phantom sensations with the “detached” visual feedback, the interaction experience was significantly enriched (vs. when without explicit visual feedback). We also discovered for the first time that for funneling, phantom sensations can be elicited without any visual feedback at all. The findings can be applied to the tactile interaction design using minimal number of actuators on a variety of media platforms including the mobile, holography and augmented reality.