Performance in a Haptic Environment

For most computer users the human – computer interface is a visual environment in which the user depends on the sense of sight to interact with a graphical user interface. The most common device for interaction with a graphical user interface is the mouse. The user perceives objects in the environment visually and using hand-eye coordination moves the cursor to the desired object to interact with it. While a visual interface is sufficient for most humancomputer interaction, the addition of other senses in the cognitive process of target selection can assist the user in making the selection decision. Our initial studies examine the use of a mouse in a haptically enhanced environment. A series of pilot studies have been completed to consider the feasibility and refine the experiments. The results of these pilot studies and future directions will be presented.