Perception of Curvature and Object Motion Via Contact Location Feedback

We describe a new tactile display for use in dexterous telemanipulation and virtual reality. Our system renders the changing location of a remote or virtual contact by moving a tactile element along the user’s fingertip. Mounted at the endpoint of a haptic mechanism, our thimble-sized device concurrently displays contact location and interaction forces. We believe such a design will enable more versatile object manipulation for haptic interactions. To evaluate this display concept, we conducted two perceptual experiments. First, human subjects judged object curvature though direct manipulation of physical models and virtual manipulation with the device. Results show similar levels of discrimination in real and virtual interactions, indicating the device can effectively portray contact information. Second, we investigated virtual interactions with rolling and anchored objects and demonstrated that users can distinguish the interaction type using our device. These experiments provide insight into the sensitivity of human perception and suggest that even a simple display of the contact centroid location may significantly enhance telerobotic and virtual grasping tasks.