Haptic Interaction Rendering Technique for HIRO: an Opposite Human Hand Haptic Interface

HIRO (Haptic Interface RObot) is a new device that enables users to interact and feel the virtual object safely. Hand interaction with virtual object requires a more elaborated model than the Haptic Interaction Point (HIP) due to the complex shape of the virtual hand. This paper describes a general haptic rendering of 3D object for hand interaction that takes in consideration the real shape and the orientation of the hand as well as accounts for the shape of the interacting objects. A VR medical application system for breast palpation using HIRO was developed in which the proposed haptic interaction method was implemented and tested.