Haptics for tangible interaction

Abstract

Research on tangible interaction and digital haptics has rarely intertwined, despite the natural relationship between physicality and touch. This paper addresses this relatively unexplored domain by presenting the Haptic Wheel, a freestanding single-axis rotational controller incorporating vibro-tactile cues. In addition to describing the hardware and implementation, the paper discusses the potential application of the system for eyes-free interaction, password entry and as an active puck on a tabletop system. The paper suggests that systems with active haptic feedback have unexploited potential as tools for tangible interaction.

TactCube: An Intelligent Device to ‘converse’ with Smart Environments

“…The TactCube would be a non-verbal and non-visual conversational tool adopting the tactile sense only. In [ 13 ], the authors propose a haptic wheel, a freestanding single-axis rotational controller incorporating a vibro-tactile cue prototype device for tangible HCI. The haptic wheel is cost-effective according to the authors and combines haptic with tangible interaction as does the TactCube .…”

Impact of the Size of Modules on Target Acquisition and Pursuit for Future Modular Shape-changing Physical User Interfaces

“…Previous work explored the change of tactile perception of the roughness of the UI. For instance, prior work explores vibrotactile feedback for physical dials [10]. Such feedback can easily be perceived even with a static contact of the finger.…”

Tangibly Enhancing Haptics

“…Bianchi et al [2] stated that "research on tangible interaction and digital haptics has rarely intertwined". In our literature search, we found only a few similar examples of FV additions to haptic systems.…”