Enhancing haptic representation for 2D objects

This paper considers two dimensional object tracking and recognition using combined texture and pressure cues. Tactile object recognition plays a major role in several HCI applications especially scientific visualization for the visually impaired. A tactile display based on a pantograph mechanism and 2×2 vibrotactile unit array was used to represent haptic virtual objects. Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of this novel method. The first experiment studied how the combined texture and pressure cues improves the haptic interaction compared to using pressure cues only. The second experiment examined users' capability to track and recognize objects with two dimensional shapes using this method. Results obtained indicate an improvement in boundary recognition and tracking accuracy by the combined stimulation over the sole pressure stimulation. Results also demonstrate the capability of users to readily define shapes for most of the virtually represented objects.