Capture and remote reproduction of haptic events in synchronous association with the video and audio capture and reproduction of those events

摘要

Method and apparatus for reproducing and applying reproductions of haptic vibrations that occur at a live activity to a remote video and audio viewer. In synchronism with sensing visible and audible stimuli to generate video and audio signals representing the video and audio at the activity, haptic vibrations of an object at the activity are sensed and converted to haptic vibration signals. A haptic vibration signal that is a reproduction of the sensed signal, a simulation of the haptic vibration, or an enhancement of the sensed haptic vibration signal is transmitted to a remote location or recorded. The haptic vibration signal contains information about the timing and characteristic of the sensed haptic vibrations and is recoverable separately from the visible and audible signals. At a location that is remote from the activity, that information is detected and used to generate and apply a reproduction of the sensed haptic vibration signal, in synchronism with reproduction of the sensed video signal and of the sensed audio signal, to an electromechanical transducer that is mechanically connected to a solid object in physical contact with a remote viewer.