Parameters of a dynamic friction model were estimated for the contact of a steel end-effector with six different materials: wood (spruce), jersey (polyester), shorts (Lycra R ), paper 80 g/m 2 , paper 160 g/m 2 , glass. The predefined sinusoidal movement and the normal direction load force were provided by a Phantom haptic interface. A 3-axis force sensor directly measures the force between the robot end-effector and the surface. The modified Dahl model with extension of damping and serial spring was used to describe the friction of selected materials. The friction model includes five parameters: Coulomb friction, stiffness coefficient, offset, damping and stiffness. Optimization was used to determine the parameters of friction model that best fit the experimental data. The modified Dahl model was found to accurately describe the friction properties of the materials and should be used in haptic models to present the properties of materials to users in virtual environments. A virtual task that uses friction model and estimated parameters of different materials has been developed. Eight subjects performed the task in virtual and real environment. Correct and incorrect answers were observed to find out subject ability to separate between different materials. The experiment showed that subjects had more problems distinguishing different friction properties of the materials in the virtual environment. These friction properties will be studied in the future to maximize the subject perception of different materials.