Haptic technology

About: Haptic technology is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 18818 publications have been published within this topic receiving 306713 citations. The topic is also known as: haptics & haptic media.

Taxonomy and Implementation of Redirection Techniques for Ubiquitous Passive Haptic Feedback

Abstract: Traveling through immersive virtual environments (IVEs) by means of real walking is an important activity to increase naturalness of VR-based interaction. However, the size of the virtual world often exceeds the size of the tracked space so that a straightforward implementation of omni-directional and unlimited walking is not possible. Redirected walking is one concept to solve this problem of walking in IVEs by inconspicuously guiding the user on a physical path that may differ from the path the user visually perceives. When the user approaches a virtual object she can be redirected to a real proxy object that is registered to the virtual counterpart and provides passive haptic feedback. In such passive haptic environments, any number of virtual objects can be mapped to proxy objects having similar haptic properties, e.g., size, shape and texture. The user can sense a virtual object by touching its real world counterpart. Redirecting a user to a registered proxy object makes it necessary to predict the user's intended position in the IVE. Based on this target position we determine a path through the physical space such that the user is guided to the registered proxy object. We present a taxonomy of possible redirection techniques that enable user guidance such that inconsistencies between visual and proprioceptive stimuli are imperceptible. We describe how a user's target in the virtual world can be predicted reliably and how a corresponding real-world path to the registered proxy object can be derived.

Visual clues act as a substitute for haptic feedback in robotic surgery

Abstract: Objective The lack of haptic feedback (HF) in robotic surgery is one of the major concerns of novice surgeons to that field. The superior visual appearances acquired during robotic surgery may give clues that make HF less important.

Method, apparatus, and article for force feedback based on tension control and tracking through cables

Abstract: A haptic interface system includes a cable based haptic interface device and a controller. The controller receives information related to movement of a grip in real-space and generates a stereoscopic output for a display device. The stereoscopic output includes images of a virtual reality tool whose motions mimic motions of the real-space grip.

Design and realization of the CUFF - clenching upper-limb force feedback wearable device for distributed mechano-tactile stimulation of normal and tangential skin forces

Abstract: Rendering forces to the user is one of the main goals of haptic technology. While most force-feedback interfaces are robotic manipulators, attached to a fixed frame and designed to exert forces on the users while being moved, more recent haptic research introduced two novel important ideas. On one side, cutaneous stimulation aims at rendering haptic stimuli at the level of the skin, with a distributed, rather than, concentrated approach. On the other side, wearable haptics focuses on highly portable and mobile devices, which can be carried and worn by the user as the haptic equivalent of an mp3 player. This paper presents a light and simple wearable device (CUFF) for the distributed mechano-tactile stimulation of the user's arm skin with pressure and stretch cues, related to normal and tangential forces, respectively. The working principle and the mechanical and control implementation of the CUFF device are presented. Then, after a basic functional validation, a first application of the device is shown, where it is used to render the grasping force of a robotic hand (the Pisa/IIT SoftHand). Preliminary results show that the device is capable to deliver in a reliable manner grasping force information, thus eliciting a good softness discrimination in users and enhancing the overall grasping experience.

An Augmented Reality Delivery Simulator for Medical Training

Abstract: This paper presents the extension of a birth simulator for medical training with an augmented reality system. The system presents an add-on of the user interface for our previous work on a mixed reality delivery simulator system [1]. This simulation system comprised direct haptic and auditory feedback, and provided important physiological data including values of blood pressure, heart rates, pain and oxygen supply, necessary for training physicians. Major drawback of the system was the indirect viewing of both the virtual models and the final delivery process. The current paper extends the existing system by bringing in the in-situ visualization. This plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of the training, since the physician now concentrates on the vaginal delivery rather than the remote computer screen. In addition, forceps are modeled and an external optical tracking system is integrated in order to provide visual feedback while training with the simulator for complicated procedures such as forceps delivery.