This paper presents a human-scale multi-modal virtual environment. User interacts with virtual worlds using a large-scale bimanual haptic interface called the SPIDAR-H. This interface is used to track user’s hands movements and to display various aspects of force feedback associated mainly with contact, weight, and inertia. In order to increase the accuracy of the system, a calibration method i...

The introduction of haptic elements in a graphic user interfaces are becoming more widespread. Since haptics are being introduced rapidly into computational tools, investigating how these models affect Human-Computer Interaction would help define how to integrate and model new modes of interaction. The interest of this paper is to discuss and investigate the issues surrounding Haptic and Graphi...

VIDET is a research project active at the University of Bologna and aimed at the development of a mobility aid for the visually impaired. VIDET’s approach consists in the conversion of depth data gathered through a stereo-vision system into a 3D model perceivable by the user by means of a wire-actuated haptic interface. In this paper we describe VIDET’s real-time stereo-vision system, implement...

1. ABSTRACT In this paper, we present the results of a comparative evaluation of a "virtual Lego" system against real Lego bricks with novice users. The virtual Lego system was designed to emulate the behavior of real Lego bricks as close as possible, while still allowing for efficient operation. We implemented two different user interfaces for the virtual Lego system, namely controlling it wit...

The performance levels of human subjects in size identification and size discrimination experiments in both real and virtual environments are presented. The virtual environments are displayed with a PHANToM desktop three degree-of-freedom haptic interface. Results indicate that performance of the size identification and size discrimination tasks in the virtual environment is comparable to that ...

We present a user interface for virtual environments that utilizes the non-dominant hand to provide haptic feedback to the dominant hand while it interacts with widgets on a virtual control panel. We believe this technique improves on existing prop-based methods of providing haptic feedback. To gauge the interface’s effectiveness, we performed a usability study. We do not present a formal compa...

This paper describes the design and development of an interactive narrative for the ‘Experimenta Vanishing Point’ media arts exhibition in 2005. The Cocktail Party Effect tells the story of the imminent extinction of Great Apes in the wild using touch and sound in the absence of visual elements. The narrative is driven by haptic-audio exploration of a virtual cocktail glass which functions as a...

This paper presents a new interface for controlling sonification models. A haptic controller interface is developed which allows both to manipulate a sonification model, e.g. by interacting with it and to provide a haptic data representation. A variety of input types are supported with a hand-sized interface, including shaking, squeezing, hammering, moving, rotating and accelerating. The paper ...

Robots are required in many jobs. The jobs related to tele-operation may be very challenging and often require reaching a destination quickly and with minimum collisions. In order to succeed in these jobs, human operators are asked to tele-operate a robot manually through a user interface. The design of a user interface and of the information provided in it, become therefore critical elements f...