SandTouch: Empowering Virtual Sand Art in VR with AI Guidance and Emotional Relief

Project Overview

In today’s data-rich world, simply having data isn’t enough – we need to understand it, communicate it, and extract insights from it. This course empowers you to transform raw numbers and complex datasets into compelling, insightful visual narratives. We’ll blend art with science, learning how to design interactive visualizations that not only look good but also enable powerful data exploration and decision-making. Get ready to become a data storyteller!

Sand painting is a unique and valuable art form, but it’s often constrained by physical equipment and a steep learning curve. To address these challenges, we developed SandTouch, a novel VR sand painting system that offers an immersive and intuitive experience, closely mirroring real-world sand manipulation. This project was presented at CHI 2025 (the premier conference in Human-Computer Interaction).

Key Features & Contributions:

1. Realistic Hand-Sand Interaction

We designed SandTouch to create a highly realistic and natural interaction between the user’s hands and virtual sand, allowing direct manipulation without external devices or controllers. This approach provides an intuitive, device-free interface and emphasizes the authenticity of the interaction. Our system captures fine sensations of real sand manipulation, complemented by realistic sound feedback.

2. AI Guidance for Creative Flow

A pioneering aspect of SandTouch is the integration of an AI agent, powered by a large language model (LLM). This AI intelligently interprets users’ creative intentions in real-time, offering contextually relevant artistic suggestions. This feature simplifies the creative process, enhances interactivity, and helps users (especially beginners) refine their artwork through technique recommendations and composition analysis.

3. Emotional Relief & Immersion

Beyond artistic creation, SandTouch prioritizes user well-being. It incorporates calming and responsive soundscapes that react to user gestures, reinforcing a relaxing atmosphere. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrated a significant increase in user engagement and immersion, with the realistic sound feedback enhancing emotional relief and deepening the painting experience. This highlights its potential for therapeutic applications.

Media & Resources:

• Paper: Full Paper (ACM DL)
• Video: Project Video

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