APT: Artificial Pin Twirler for Rendering Rough–Smooth Textures Using Pin Height Modulation in VR

One approach to rendering virtual texture scanning is rotating a physical texture by users’ motion, which guarantees high scanning realism for the attached texture. However, this requires a one-to-one correspondence between virtual and physical textures, preventing a single device from rendering various virtual textures. We propose a proxy-based handheld pin-array device, APT, which renders a wide range of perceived roughness from smooth to extremely rough by adjusting array height and rotating the array. In Study 1, we identified pin-array heights that perceptually matched the scanning sensations of eight textures and evaluated perceived roughness across these textures and sixteen array heights. Study 2 showed that APT achieved high scanning realism across eight textures at perceptually matched heights (median ratings above 75 on a 0–100 scale) and outperformed a vibration-based commercial controller in realism, immersion, and enjoyment. Our proxy-based pin-array representation enables realistic scanning of diverse virtual textures without physical texture replacement.