Control apparatus for thermal sensation providing device
AssigneeAlps Alpine Co., Ltd.
InventorsKunio Sato, Toshihiko Saito, Hajime Shikata, Katsunari Sato
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Abstract
A control apparatus for controlling a thermal sensation providing device that provides a thermal sensation to an object coming in contact with a virtual material includes a database configured to store first information indicative of a relationship between a type of virtual material and a speed of a temperature change during a first period that starts at a commencement of providing the thermal sensation and that ends at a lapse of a first time length from the commencement, and a temperature control unit configured to control a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the first period based on the first information.
Claims12
A control apparatus for controlling a thermal sensation providing device that provides a thermal sensation to an object coming in contact with a virtual material, comprising:
- a database configured to store first information indicative of a relationship between a type of virtual material and a speed of a temperature change during a first period that starts at a commencement of providing the thermal sensation and that ends at a lapse of a first time length from the commencement, and
- a temperature control unit configured to control a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the first period based on the first information,
- wherein the database is further configured to store second information indicative of a relationship between the type of virtual material and a controlled temperature during a second period immediately following the first period, and the temperature control unit is configured to control a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the second period based on the second information.
A method of controlling a thermal sensation providing device that provides a thermal sensation to an object coming in contact with a virtual material, comprising:
- referring to a database that stores first information indicative of a relationship between a type of virtual material and a speed of a temperature change during a first period that starts at a commencement of providing the thermal sensation and that ends at a lapse of a first time length from the commencement,
- controlling a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the first period based on the first information,
- referring to a database that stores second information indicative of a relationship between the type of virtual material and a controlled temperature during a second period immediately following the first period, and
- controlling a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the second period based on the second information.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a program embedded therein for causing a computer to control a thermal sensation providing device that provides a thermal sensation to an object coming in contact with a virtual material, the program causing the computer to perform:
- referring to a database that stores first information indicative of a relationship between a type of virtual material and a speed of a temperature change during a first period that starts at a commencement of providing the thermal sensation and that ends at a lapse of a first time length from the commencement,
- controlling a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the first period based on the first information,
- referring to a database that stores second information indicative of a relationship between the type of virtual material and a controlled temperature during a second period immediately following the first period, and
- controlling a temperature provided by the thermal sensation providing device during the second period based on the second information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.