Spatialized Haptic Rendering: Providing Impact Position Information in 6DOF Haptic Simulations Using Vibrations

In this paper we introduce a "Spatialized Haptic Rendering" technique to enhance 6DOF haptic manipulation of virtual objects with impact position information using vibrations. This rendering technique uses our perceptive ability to determine the contact position by using the vibrations generated by the impact. In particular, the different vibrations generated by a beam are used to convey the impact position information. We present two experiments conducted to tune and evaluate our spatialized haptic rendering technique. The first experiment investigates the vibration parameters (amplitudes/frequencies) needed to enable an efficient discrimination of the force patterns used for spatialized haptic rendering. The second experiment is an evaluation of spatialized haptic rendering during 6DOF manipulation. Taken together, the results suggest that spatialized haptic rendering can be used to improve the haptic perception of impact position in complex 6DOF interactions.