Displaying realistic contact accelerations via a dedicated vibration actuator

During real physical interactions, contact between a hand-held tool and an object causes high-frequency tool accelerations that are detected by mechanoreceptors in the human hand. These haptic signals provide salient cues about changes in tool-surface contact state and enable effortless identification of material and surface properties. Unfortunately, these rich contact sensations are often absent from haptic renderings of virtual and remote objects. This demonstration features a classic implementation of bilateral teleoperation with two augmented SensAble Omni haptic interfaces. By using this system to touch a variety of remote objects, users will have an opportunity to experience first-hand the remarkable improvements in haptic realism that can be achieved through the use of a dedicated high-frequency vibration actuator driven by contact accelerations.