The Effect of Virtual Surface Stiffness on the Haptic Perception of Detail

Abstract—This brief presents a quantitative study of the effects of virtual surface stiffness in a simulated haptic environment on the haptic percep-tion of detail. Specifically, the haptic perception of detail is characterized by identification, detection, and discrimination of round and square cross section ridges. Test results indicate that performance, measured as a per-cent correct score in the perception experiments, improves in a nonlinear fashion as the maximum level of virtual surface stiffness in the simulation increases. Further, test subjects appeared to reach a limit in their percep-tion capabilities at maximum stiffness levels of 300 to 400 N/m, while the hardware was capable of 1000 N/m of maximum virtual surface stiffness. These results indicate that haptic interface hardwaremay be able to convey sufficient perceptual information to the user with relatively low levels of vir-tual surface stiffness. Index Terms—Design specifications, haptic interface, haptic perception, virtual environment. I