Grasping virtual objects with multi-point haptics

The majority of commercially available haptic devices offer a single point of haptic interaction. These devices are limited when it is desirable to grasp with multiple fingers in applications including virtual training, telesurgery and telemanipulation. Multipoint haptic devices serve to facilitate a greater range of interactions. This paper presents a gripper attachment to enable multi-point haptic grasping in virtual environments. The approach employs two Phantom Omni haptic devices to independently render forces to the user's thumb and other fingers. Compared with more complex approaches to multi-point haptics, this approach provides a number of advantages including low-cost, reliability and ease of programming. The ability of the integrated multi-point haptic platform to interact within a CHAI 3D virtual environment is also presented.