Geppetteau makes virtual fluids physically legible, shifting weight inside a handheld vessel to recreate the changing feel of liquid across a range of container shapes.
Introduction: Making Virtual Liquids Tangible
Handling liquid in a vessel creates distinctive tactile cues as its mass shifts with the container. Conventional VR controllers and static physical proxies cannot supply these changing forces. Geppetteau introduces a string-driven weight-shifting mechanism that makes those interactions perceptible.
System Architecture: Shifting Weight Across Vessel Shapes
Geppetteau integrates its mechanism into conical, spherical, cylindrical, and cuboid vessels. Its physical movement is synchronized with virtual-fluid behavior, extending active haptic feedback beyond a single container form.
Results: Congruent Fluid Sensations
Across three user studies, participants evaluated active weight shifting against a standard controller and a static-weight proxy, and experienced virtual liquids with varied volumes and viscosities. The results show that congruent changing forces strengthen the sensation of handling virtual fluid.
