A Multimodal Haptic Mouse for Visually Impaired People

This work describes early research activity on a haptic mouse interface. This project aims to join tactile and kinesthetic feedbacks in order to improve the accessibility of the PC to visually impaired persons. In this phase a planar haptic interface has been developed. It is based on two linear motors, which allows a simple mechanical structure, with high stiffness and without backlash. The system is backdrivable but to reduce the friction effects and therefore enhance its transparency, the device has been equipped with a load cell along each axis. A suitable controller exploiting a force loop has been developed and some significant tasks experimentally verified. In particular, since this haptic mouse will be applied to interact with graphical user interfaces, the tracking of predefined paths and the rendering of geometrical shape have been tested.