Judging the Orientation of Sinusoidal and Square-Wave Virtual Gratings Presented via 2-DOF and 3-DOF Haptic Interfaces 1

Abstract

The ability of observers to resolve the orientation of virtual gratings presented on two different haptic interfaces was investigated. Gratings were presented either with the 2-degree-of-freedom Immersion IE2000, or with the 3-degree-of-freedom SensAble Devices PHANToM. Results showed excellent resolution of both sinusoidal and squarewave gratings with both devices. Possible factors that may have influenced the results, such as force models, force vectors, and end effectors, are addressed. INTRODUCTION In human sensing and manipulation of everyday objects, the perception of surface texture is fundamental for both accurate identification and perceptual realism. The identification of everyday objects depends crucially upon texture information; for example, when sorting coins in one's pocket, one of the primary cues that distinguishes a dime from a penny is the ridged texture of the dime's outer circumference. It could also be argued that performance in a wide variety of tasks would b...