The present paper describes the integration of a multi-finger haptic device with deformable objects in an interactive environment. Repulsive forces are synthesized and rendered independently for each finger of a user wearing a Cybergrasp force-feedback glove. Deformation and contact models are based on mass-spring systems, and the issue of the user independence is dealt with through a geometric...

Virtual reality techniques provide a unique new way to interact with three-dimensional digital objects. Virtual prototyping refers to the use of virtual reality to obtain evaluations of designs while they are still in digital form before physical prototypes are built. While the state-of-the-art in virtual reality relies mainly on the use of stereo viewing and auditory feedback, commercial hapti...

Collaborative examination and use of shared documents often happens in a common physical space like in a tourist office. We developed a 3D immersive space to study collaboration on an information task in a virtual environment. In our paper, we present the qualitative results about cooperative work in the VirCA virtual environment. Our research is aiming to show that a 3D virtual environment can...

Come Closer describes a combined research and art installation using wearable technology and collaborative interaction to explore and challenge the sense of personal space and proximity to others. Participants become acutely aware of each other; aware of their presence in both physical and virtual space. They are encouraged to probe and investigate the boundaries that define personal space, to ...

The VRAI group at EPFL is conducting research in the fields of virtual reality and haptics (force-feedback) for medical applications. In particular, we have developed visualization techniques for medical images from various sources, and a high-performance haptic interface. In this paper, we present a technique that combines visualization with haptic rendering in order to provide real-time assis...

We discuss the affective aspects of tutoring dialogues in an ITS -called INESthat helps students to practice nursing tasks using a haptic device and a virtual environment. Special attention is paid to affective control in the tutoring process by means of selecting the appropriate feedback, taking into account elements of the student’s character, the harmfulness of errors made, and the emotional...

The ability to combine tactile, on-the-skin, sensory cues with the kinesthetic ones that widely available force-feedback devices are able to produce is a desirable one, opening the door to the production of more realistic, compelling virtual environments. Pneumatic air-jet displays can be easily mounted on existing force-feedback devices and we believe have the potential to provide useful compl...

In this paper we investigate a use of haptics for skills training which we call haptic guidance. In the haptic guidance paradigm, the subject is physically guided through the ideal motion by the haptic interface, thus giving the subject a kinesthetic understanding of what is required. Subjects learned a complex 3D motion under three training conditions (haptic, visual, haptic and visual) and we...