TOUCHLESS Hackathon ‘22

 
 

Touchless /tʌtʃles/ A research project on Mid-Air Haptics
Hackathon /ˈhæk.ə.θɒn/ Creative get together where developers, designers, and people solve challenges
’22 /ˈtwen.ti.tuː/ The current year

The Challenge

How can a touch be touchless? Mid-air haptics has the answer. Mid-air haptics refers to the activation of the sense of touch at a distance; the effect of feeling an invisible touch on your skin.

With mid-air haptics you can shake hands over Zoom, feel raindrops in VR or stroke the material of your new couch. All using ultrasonic haptic feedback. Or at least, that is the promise…

You can watch the video below, to get a sense of what mid-air haptics is.

But, apart from all these futuristic ideas, what can we do with the technology now? This is what you will ponder during our TOUCHLESS Hackathon. Under the theme of “a Touch of the Future”, you will use your creative energy to build, draw, and test out a prototype of a novel interaction. You will get access to a mid-air haptic device and we will provide materials and tools to support your creative process (ranging from paper and cardboard to 3D-printers and VR glasses).

The goals of this hackathon are to:

  • Generate new ideas on how to design and apply touchless interaction

  • Build, draw and test prototypes in teams

  • Learn about mid-air haptics technology and discuss its potential applications in a variety of domains

The practical Details

The hackathon will take place at the Niels Bohr Building, Copenhagen on the 22. - 24. April 2022.

We will provide food and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and the occasional snack). The hackathon is not a competition, but a collaborative effort to design better tools for haptic experiences. We will give out rewards to all participants nonetheless.

Towards the end of the hackathon, you will have the opportunity to present your work to well-renowned researchers and your peers. The final program is still under construction.

The technical details

Ultrasonic mid-air haptics technology uses focused ultrasound at 40 kHz to create up to 8 pressure points of about 8mm in diameter, and each pressure point can be touched and felt in mid-air. These points can be dynamically moved in 3D space forming different geometrical shapes or modulated over time to give the sensation of tapping or button clicking. You are invited to explore the uses of this new technology and propose novel mid-air haptic environments and applications.

The Ultrahaptics Evaluation Kit (UHEV1) contains:

  • The development kit hardware: a 256 (16×16) transducer array and control board, mounted in a cradle with a Leap Motion Controller device.

  • Multi-regional power supply, USB cables and compliance, warranty and health and safety booklet.

The UHEV1 can produce mid-air haptics with up to eight simultaneous Control Points to a range of 60cm. The positions of these can be updated in real-time at a rate of up to 16000 times a second. The SDK contains a full API and suite of example code (C++) for you to work through to create your own applications. We also provide C# libraries for integration within the Unity Game Development platform.

Why Participate?

During the event you will

  • gain a network of fellow students, as well as well-renown researchers both from the University of Copenhagen and aboard,

  • learn new tips and tricks in designing physical and virtual objects and share your own knowledge with peers,

  • have the opportunity to fiddle around with cutting edge mid-air haptic technology, and

  • get free meals, coffee, and snacks throughout the weekend

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

You are free to apply for participation, no matter cultural, educational, or any other type of background. There is no entry fee, but slots for participating are scarce. You will be grouped together in teams together with other participants. The teams come together based on the skills you might have.

If you are not comfortable with programming, don’t sweat, there is plenty you can contribute to your team effort! This could include designing interactions, making business plans, or using your artistic streak to create whatever is on your mind.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

To be considered for participation please write about your motivations and why you would like to participate (250 words or less) to apply via the button below.

Below, you can sign up for the Hackathon. Please note that participation is not guaranteed, as we have a limit of 50 participants. Deadline for applying is the 31. March 2022 17. April 2022. You will get to know whether you can join soon thereafter.

Read more

Read more about the EU research project TOUCHLESS on this very website: https://www.touchlessai.eu/.

Get inspiration for the use of mid-air haptic technology in the Ultrahaptics YouTube playlist.

Read about the possibilities of mid-air haptics in this DIKU news article.

 

Date
22.-24. April 2022

Location
Niels Bohr Building, Copenhagen