The Robot Technology Research Group at Tokyo Institute of Technology is doing R&D on a hair-cut simulator called Air-Hair.
The aim of Air-Hair is to enable hair-cutting to be done in virtual reality, so people can practice easily, without having to worry about making mistakes.
"There's a motor attached to the scissors, and the motor creates a slight resistance. It feels difficult to close the scissors, because the motor works from the opposite direction to you."
"When the scissors are shown in red, it means there's no hair in that place. When you bring the scissors near the mannequin like this, the scissors turn black. If you move the scissors in this state, the sensation of cutting hair is replicated in your hand, while on the screen, the mannequin's hairstyle changes."
By rotating the mannequin, you can cut its hair through 360 degrees. The position of the scissors is identified by using several sensors to supplement the infrared LED on the scissors.
"This system was originally created for a student VR contest. To use it for practical purposes, it could be made into a work experience game for kids. Or it could be used as a training tool for hairstylists, by adding combs and razors."
From now on, the group would like to improve the system's detection precision, by detecting wrist rotation and improving the response speed, and make the system more compact for practical use.
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