Judging 2D versus 3D Square-Wave Virtual Gratings

Haptic virtual texture can enhance people's experience in interacting with virtual objects by providing surface information. We present a study to analyze how people distinguish between 2D and 3D square-wave gratings using a point-source haptic interface. Our analyses were based on objective vibration and force measurements and psychophysical experiments with human subjects. The results indicated that people were unable to detect the difference between the two textures when they moved their hands across textures with either the amplitude or period smaller than 1.52 mm (0.06 inch) for a texture stiffness of 2 N/mm. This result implies that a simple 2-degree-of-freedom haptic interface may be sufficient to convey the same 3-dimensional tactile feeling for certain textures if the textures are small enough.