Action-Origami Inspired Haptic Devices for Virtual Reality
Khrystyna Vasylevska
khrystyna.vasylevska@tuwien.ac.at
VR&AR Research Unit, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Tobias Batik
contact@tobiasbatik.at
TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Hugo Brument
hugo.brument@tuwien.ac.at
VR&AR Research Unit, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Kiumars Sharifmoghaddam
ksharif@geometrie.tuwien.ac.at
Institute of Discrete Mathematics and
Geometry, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Georg Nawratil
nawratil@geometrie.tuwien.ac.at
Institute of Discrete Mathematics and
Geometry, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Emanuel Vonach
emanuel.vonach@tuwien.ac.at
VR&AR Research Unit, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Soroosh Mortezapoor
soroosh.mortezapoor@tuwien.ac.at
VR&AR Research Unit, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Hannes Kaufmann
hannes.kaufmann@tuwien.ac.at
VR&AR Research Unit, TU Wien
Vienna, Austria
Figure 1: Origami-based haptic interfaces: (left) application of a zig-up-zag-up zipper flower tube for elastic response haptic
simulation; (right) Shiftly - a mechanized shape-shifting haptic prop with a simple origami pattern.
ABSTRACT
Origami offers an innovative way to implement haptic interaction
with minimum actuation, particularly in immersive encountered-
type haptics and robotics. This paper presents two novel action-
origami-inspired haptic devices for Virtual Reality (VR). The Zipper
Flower Tube is a rigid-foldable origami structure that can provide
different stiffness sensations to simulate the elastic response of a
material. The Shiftly is a shape-shifting haptic display that employs
origami to enable a real-time experience of different shapes and
edges of virtual objects or the softness of materials. The modular
approach of our action origami haptic devices provides a high-
fidelity, energy-efficient and low-cost solution for interacting with
virtual materials and objects in VR.
CCS CONCEPTS
•Computer systems organization→Robotics; •Human-centered
computing → Haptic devices; Virtual reality.
SIGGRAPH ’23 Emerging Technologies, August 06-10, 2023, Los Angeles, CA, USA
© 2023 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for
redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in Special Interest Group
on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference Emerging Technologies
(SIGGRAPH ’23 Emerging Technologies), August 06-10, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1145/
3588037.3595393.
KEYWORDS
Origami, haptics, virtual reality, rigid-foldable tubes.
ACM Reference Format:
Khrystyna Vasylevska, Tobias Batik, Hugo Brument, Kiumars Sharifmoghad-
dam, Georg Nawratil, Emanuel Vonach, Soroosh Mortezapoor, and Hannes
Kaufmann. 2023. Action-Origami Inspired Haptic Devices for Virtual Re-
ality. In Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Tech-
niques Conference Emerging Technologies (SIGGRAPH ’23 Emerging Tech-
nologies), August 06-10, 2023. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https:
//doi.org/10.1145/3588037.3595393
1 INTRODUCTION
VR has revolutionized our approach to design by enabling users to
explore new ideas in an immersive setup. Haptic feedback makes
VR tangible, significantly enhancing users’ experience and immer-
sion [Kreimeier et al. 2019]. Supporting the perception of specific
materials or shapes is then a fundamental requirement of immersive
early-stage design. Yet, enabling different haptic representations
and interactions in fast succession within a single scene remains a
challenge. For instance, several virtual objects or material samples
close together usually require a prop change that is often not time-
and energy-efficient even with a robotic arm on mobile platform.
Origami is the art of folding to create various shapes and has
inspired many engineering solutions. Origami-based haptic props
offer more straightforward mechanical solutions and fewer actua-
tors than pin displays or passive props. In particular, action-origami
SIGGRAPH ’23 Emerging Technologies, August 06-10, 2023, Los Angeles, CA, USA Vasylevska, et al.
Figure 2: Zipper flower tubes design variations in expanded
and collapsed states: (left) flat-foldable zig-zag tube, (center)
zig-up-zag-up tube with modifiable length, and (right) semi-
discrete flower with developable strips.
can be animated with an intelligent application of the force that
will cause the action. By combining action-origami with minimal
mechanical actuation, we created flexible and responsive props for
high-fidelity, low-cost, and energy-sufficient haptic feedback.
In this work, we introduce two novel haptic devices for VR
that emerged from a combination of action origami and mechanical
solutions: (1) the Zipper Flower Tube can simulate different material
elasticity and stiffness with a single actuator (robotic gripper); (2)
the Shiftly can simulate different shapes and surfaces with only
three small stepper motors. Their design enables the rendering of
different haptic stimuli in quick succession with a single prop.
2 ZIPPER FLOWER TUBE
Rigid-foldable origami has many applications, as it can be material-
ized by flat panels and rotational hinges. Foldable tubes, in particu-
lar, can be coupled in a zipper fashion to increase the stiffness of the
resulting structure while they expand [Filipov et al. 2015]. This con-
nection is used in the tubular flower, which consists of rotational
congruent tubes with a deltoid cross-section [Sharifmoghaddam
et al. 2023]. Due to their inherent recomposition and out-of-plane
stiffness, tubular flowers exhibit a more robust cantilevering effect
during expansion than alternatives. Furthermore, their interlocking
behavior in the expanded state distinguishes them from scissor
structures and configurable springs. The tubes are robust enough to
be utilized for dynamic haptic feedback. Some design variations are
shown in Figure 2. We used the central model with five 180𝑔/𝑚2
paper tubes of 4.5 sections each and a custom mounting with ball
bearing to accommodate the tubes’ rotation. The total flower tube
length ranges between 22.5 − 45 𝑐𝑚 with a cross-section of 17𝑐𝑚.
The cross-section is adjustable, and the number of petal tubes can
be changed. The high-stiffness collapsed and expanded states al-
low us to retain the pressure applied by the user and simulate the
stiffness of various materials. The pressure is measured by the F300
force-torque sensor mounted behind the HandE gripper as shown
in Figure 1, which allows us to present stiffness in response to
pressure by controlling the folding speed with the gripper’s fingers.
3 SHIFTLY
Inspired by [Rabinovich et al. 2019], Shiftly uses a curved origami
pattern to transition from zero to positive stiffness by activating
Figure 3: Depiction of Shiftly’s origami pattern and folding
that results in a stiff curved surface.
predefined creases. We lock or unlock the folding creases with a
single mechanical motorized trigger applying the force along the
shorter side of the sheet (see Figure 3), using three E Series Nema 17
stepper motors with 16 Ncm holding torque. Our shape display is
based on a combination of three pieces of dense paper with curved
creases mounted on a rectangular frame each that are arranged
in a triangular prism. The device’s frame length is 233mm, and its
width depends on the contraction and extension of each folding
element, ranging from 92mm to 148mm, making the touch area
of the origami wide enough for a hand. The 360◦ touch surface is
97mm long and reaches up to 183mm between the creases at the
center of the surface.
Shiftly can render different shapes variations, from a prism to a
cylinder with partial side transitions thanks to the independent ac-
tuation. The depictions of possible transformations (full contraction,
partial contraction, and fully extended state) are shown in Figure 1.
The configuration of Shiftly allows the simulation of objects and
materials familiar to real life: from cups, bottles, or pipes in full
contraction to books, corners of the walls, or sharp edges of the
furniture in full extended mode.
4 DEMONSTRATION
In the demonstration, the participants will explore a VR material
palette and several differently shaped objects. The stiffness of dif-
ferent virtual material samples will be simulated with the zipper
flower tube on a robotic gripper. Our Shiftly prototype will simu-
late three virtual objects of different shapes, e.g., a coffee mug in
round contraction, a document folder in partial contraction, and a
triangular box in the fully extended state.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work has been funded by the grant F77 (SFB “Advanced Com-
putational Design”, SP5 & SP7) of the Austrian Science Fund FWF.
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