Haptic Devices-What Are They?

• Haptics refers to sensing and manipulating through touch enabling the user to touch and feel virtual reality (VR) or an existing distant object indirectly. This sensation can now be added to the current computer models which have sight and sound only.  Haptics also provide force feedback to those interacting with virtual or remote environments so that a bi-directional flow of information is created.  Force sensations play important roles in the recognition of virtual or real objects, allowing us to feel the rigidity or weight of such objects.
  
• The VR graphic shows two hands holding a nut and bolt.  This manipulation can be observed on the monitor screen.  In actuality,  the operator is wearing two haptic controller gloves which enable him to feel, rotate and engage the nut and bolt (present on the monitor), while receiving feed-back as if really holding these objects.
   
• The System used is The PHANToM™ hardware interface.  It provides precision positioning input and high-fidelity, force-feedback output.  It is shown below.
   
• GHOST^® middleware works as the "physics of touch" engine, handling the complex computations.
   
• Have mastered  visual display and digitized sound and are beginning to master a third sense—Touch (Haptics).  •Adding Haptics is markedly enhancing simulation experience.

  Haptic Devices Currently Commercially Available:

PHANToM™ SenSable Tech Phantom device in use to push die on the screen. (wait for video to download)	Cyberglove-Immersion Tech
Haptic Links and References: http://www.virtex.com/index.html http://www.sensable.com/ http://www.immersion.com/ http://haptic.mech.nwu.edu/ http://lims.mech.nwu.edu/ http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/handarm-haptics/haptics.html http://marg.www.media.mit.edu/people/marg/haptics-pages.html -3D touch applications-- http://www.sensable.com/apps.htm#medical

-Pietro Buttolo and Blake Hannaford, Pen-Based Force Display for Precision Manipulation in Virtual Environments Proc IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium, pp. 217-224, North Carolina, March 1995.
-S.E.Salcudean, J.Yan, Towards a Force-Reflecting Motion-Scaling System for Microsurgery, Proc. IEEE Robotics and Automation, vol. 3, pp. 2296-2301, San Diego, CA, 1994.
-T.Sato, J.Ichikawa, M.Mitsuishi, Y.Hatamura, A New Micro-Teleoperation System Employing a Hand-Held Force-Feedback Pencil, Proc. IEEE Robotics and Automation, vol. 2, pp. 1728-1733, San Diego, CA,.1994.

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Modified: July 2004