Collaborative stretcher carrying: a case study

Abstract

This paper describes a simulation of a collaborative task in a shared virtual environment --- two users carrying a shared object (a stretcher) in a complex chemical plant. The implementation includes a haptic interface for each user, so that forces transmitted through the stretcher from one user to the other can be experienced. Preliminary experiments show that the addition of haptic feedback significantly enhances the sense of sharing and each user's perception of the actions of the other user. The implementation is described, and some conclusions about the value of haptics, and plans for future work are given.