MHaptic : a Haptic Manipulation Library for Generic Virtual Environments

Abstract

Abstract-This paper presents a new library called MHaptic for bimanual haptic interaction within generic virtual environments. It has been specifically designed to work with a Haptic Workstation TM . MHaptic provides tools for accelerated development of virtual environment applications with haptic feedback like device calibration, user comfort improvements and access to low level parameters. Due to its integration with the Ageia PhysX library, it facilitates the dynamic animation of virtual objects. A realistic hand model based on mass-spring systems allows natural and intuitive manipulation. MHaptic is complemented by an authoring tool that associates information required for haptic feedback to existing virtual environments. The combination of the library and the authoring tool creates a framework for easy development of complex VR haptic applications.

Novel Interactive Techniques for Bimanual Manipulation of 3D Objects with Two 3DoF Haptic Interfaces

“…Others are multi-fingered interfaces, such as the MasterFinger-2 [6], SPIDAR-8 [7] and Bimanual HIRO [8], which enable interaction through 4, 8 and 10 fingertips respectively. Within this category of multi-fingered devices, the Haptic Workstation is a special case, not only providing interaction through the fingertips but also through the palm of both hands [9]. Multi-fingered interfaces are especially suited for grasping virtual objects thanks to their numerous interaction points, although it was shown that single-point devices could also allow grasping with a full control of all degrees of freedom (DoF) of an object through a soft-fingers method [10].…”

“…A straightforward hardware approach consists in increasing the workspace provided by each haptic device to fit that of the VE, either through a bigger frame or a redundant DoF. However the best result obtained for bimanual devices was the reach of human arms, in the cases of the DLR interface [3] and the Haptic Workstation [9]. Another solution for handling large VEs is the use of mobile haptic interfaces, i.e.…”

“…Most of these interfaces, however, have small workspaces, which is a strong limitation when a user wants to carry out tasks as simple as pick-and-placing an object in a large VE. Several hardware and software solutions were proposed to address this issue, notably the Bubble technique [18] which proved to be suitable for simultaneous grasping of objects and exploration in a VE with a bimanual whole-hand haptic interface [9]. However, while multi-fingered interfaces make it easier to firmly hold an object with two hands through the use of the fingers, it is still currently very difficult to grab and carry an object with proxies controlled by two single-point haptic interfaces, especially in large environments.…”

A Survey of Haptics in Serious Gaming

“…The libraries will provide relatively basic haptic features, but they also offer extensibility for customized physical modeling, shape rendering, force effects, collision detection, dynamics and other third-party engines. More haptic modeling libraries are available but not widely applied as the ones listed in Table 1 [57][58][59][60][61].…”

Two-Arm Haptic Force-Feedbacked Aid for the Shoulder and Elbow Telerehabilitation

“…We decide to work with the Immersion 3 Haptic Workstation TM instead of other VR haptic devices. In fact, it is a two-armed-based system [11] that allows a well-balanced effort of the patients between their right and left limbs. This avoids excessive torsions and efforts with the spinal column.…”