POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR THE INTERACTION WITH VIRTUAL SHAPES THROUGH A DESKTOP HAPTIC DEVICE

The paper describes the results of a research activity on the design of a positioning system which includes both a physical 3-DOF and virtual platforms which carries out a Desktop Haptic Interface (DHI). The positioning system allows the user to inter-act with a virtual shape through a combination of linear and ro-tation motions, some of them driven by the user and some driven by the virtual shape. On the other hand, by rendering a physical 2D cross-section through the DHI permits the assessment of vir-tual prototypes of industrial products with aesthetic value. Typ-ically, virtual objects are modified several times before reaching the desired design, increasing the development time and, conse-quently, the final product cost. The desktop haptic system (which includes the positioning system and the DHI) that we propose here, will reduce the number of physical mockups during the de-sign process allowing designers to perform several phases of the product design process continuously and without any interrup-tion. In particular the system is developed with the aim of sup-porting designers during the evaluation of the aesthetic quality of a virtual product.