Feel the Static and Kinetic Friction

Multimodal simulations augment the presentation of abstract concepts facilitating theoretical models understanding and learning. Most simulations only engage two of our five senses: sight and hearing. If we employ additional sensory communication channels in simulations, we may gain a deeper understanding of illustrated concepts by increasing the communication bandwidth and providing alternative perspectives. We implemented the sense of touch in 3D simulations to teach important concepts in introductory physics. Specifically, we developed a visuo-haptic simulation for friction. We prove that interactive 3D haptic simulations – if carefully developed and deployed – are useful in engaging students and allowing them to understand concepts faster. We hypothesize that large scale deployment of such haptic-based simulators in science laboratories is now possible due to the advancements in haptic software and hardware technology.