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Dynamically rendering the shape of an object offers a lot of new opportunities in the fields of virtual reality, design, and prototyping as bare hand interaction represents a very intutive way to explore objects. We propose a 3D-shape interface formed by a parallel kinematics connecting multiple nodes and present an inverse kinematics based on a retargeting algorithm to control these nodes. The shape is formed by simultaneously taking into account loop constraints, joint limits and user interaction points. Two alternative control modes for stiff and compliant objects are introduced and compared with each other in simulations.

Interacting with 3-D-shaped objects using bare hands represents a very intuitive way to explore object shapes and offers lots of new opportunities in the field of virtual reality and design. Only a few 3-D shape rendering interfaces are known in the literature so far, but their resolution is rather low and/or they are not actuated. Thus, a new parallel kinematic design for an actuated 3-D shape rendering interface with a comparatively high resolution is presented, which can be extended to cover larger interaction areas. Starting from a preliminary configuration, its kinematics is optimized for the rendering of basic shapes like cylinders or spheres. Due to its specific parallel kinematic design, where a determined system is gained by attaching one node to the environment, it can easily be mounted as an end-effector to kinesthetic haptic interfaces. The presented prototype of the formable object is evaluated with respect to its ability to render basic static and dynamic shapes as well as its maximum achievable mechanical stiffness.

In the BEAMING project we have been extending the scope of collaborative mixed reality to include the representation of users in multiple modalities, including augmented reality, situated displays and robots. A single user (a visitor) uses a high-end virtual reality system (the transporter) to be virtually teleported to a real remote location (the destination). The visitor may be tracked in several ways including emotion and motion capture. We reconstruct the destination and the people within it (the locals). In achieving this scenario, BEAMING has integrated many heterogeneous systems. In this paper, we describe the design and key implementation choices in the Beaming Scene Service (BSS), which allows the various processes to coordinate their behaviour. The core of the system is a light-weight shared object repository that allows loose coupling between processes with very different requirements (e.g. embedded control systems through to mobile apps). The system was also extended to support the notion of presence awareness. We demonstrate two complex applications built with the BSS.