Haptic technology allows users to sense and control computer applications through the sense of touch. By using special input/output devices
(3D robotic mouse), users can receive feedback from computer applications in the form of felt sensations in the hand or other parts of the body.
In combination with a rich visual environment, haptic technology can be used to train people for tasks requiring hand-eye coordination, such as
assembling parts or performing dental surgery. It can also be used in computer games in which you feel as well as see your interactions on the
screen. For example, you might play a fishing game where a haptic device acts as your fishing pole. Fish nibbling on your lure can be felt through
the haptic device and pulling a fish out of the water requires you to apply the right amount of force on the fishing pole.
Marek has created a haptic collision detection and response engine which can be used to create haptic enabled software application as shown
below. Marek has worked with many haptic devices including the Novint Falcon,
SensAble's Omni & Desktop devices,
Force Dimension's Omega 3, and
MPB's Freedom 6S.
To see more projects, visit the other sections by using the left or right arrows at the top of the screen
or by selecting one of the other categories found below the navigation bar.
This video gives a brief introduction to haptic technology and demonstrates some of the force effects that can be created using the Novint Falcon
haptic device.
When you use a haptic device you can actually feel if objects are heavy or light. Through the sense of touch you can feel the contours of
an object, feel its surface texture (smooth/rough) and differentiate between an object that is stiff/hard and an object made out of a soft/spongy
material.
Following the haptic introduction at the beginning of the video, Marek demonstrates a car engine haptic assembly program that he wrote.
The interactive forces created by friction, inertia, and the mass of objects are all important properties that need to be modeled and
simulated accurately when creating a haptic application.
In this demonstration video, a ball is controlled using the Novint Falcon haptic device. When the ball makes contact with the box you can
feel the interaction with your hand through the sense of touch. Notice that you can interact with the box through friction alone as is the case
when the ball slides around the top of the box causing the box to stop spinning.
This demonstration video shows the virtual injection haptic simulation that Marek created. Novint supplied the 2D images seen on the screen
and instructed how the simulation should haptically feel when a user attempts to inject fluid into the knee or shoulder.
Marek created the 3D model of the syringe and the neccessary haptic models to be used in the simulation to create the force feedback. The final
program delivers the sensation of puncturing a needle through human skin, and simulates the tissue resistance forces one would feel when moving a
needle through muscle and cartilage. If the needle tip hits bones then the motion is restricted by the haptic device.
The graphical user interface was developed using OpenGL and the haptic engine is written in C++.
In this haptic dental simulator, the user controls a dental pick and uses it to poke around inside a patient's mouth. Since this is a haptic
application, you can feel the surface texture of each tooth with the pick and even the fleshy parts of the mouth. The virtual patient will
periodically speaks which causes the jaw to move up and down making the task of cleaning their teeth more difficult.
The graphics and haptics were programmed by Marek using OpenGL and C++, and the 3D models were created using
Poser and Maya.
In this haptic fishing game, the player holds a haptic device which acts like a fishing rod. The fishing rod's motion is tracked in the full
6 degrees of freedom (position x,y,z and orientation alpha,beta,gamma). When a fish takes a bite at the lure, the bobber sitting on the water goes
under briefly and at the same time, the player feels a tug downward from the haptic device. The player must quickly react to the tug by pulling
forcefully upward on the fishing pole. If this happens fast enough, they will catch a fish!
This game was developed using the Handshake proSENSE development environment with a SensAable Omni haptic device.
This haptic medical simulation was used to train doctors to perform the lumbar puncture (spinal tap) procedure. A needle is controlled in
6 degrees of freedom (position x,y,z and orientation alpha,beta,gamma) using a SensAble Omni haptic device. A medical 3D scan of a patient's
skeleton was used to generate the graphical and haptic 3D model used in this program.
When the needle punctures the skin, you begin to feel resistive forces as the needle interacts with the tissue and muscle in the patient's body.
The tissues and muscle are shown visually on the screen but you can still feel them haptically. If the needle tip hits bone or other hard material,
then its motion is constrained and it can't be pushed in any further.
In this game, the player controls a drum stick using a haptic device to hit the virtual xylophone. Depending on which key is struck, a different
musical note (A to G) is played back. All collisions can be felt through the haptic device. You can select between four different musical
instruments using the icons at the bottom of the screen.
A haptic device is used to control a cone in 3D space. When the point of the cone touches the surface of the penny, you can feel the
surface roughness and contours of the penny through the haptic device.
Marek A. Krzeminski, MASc
