Integration and evaluation of haptic feedbacks: from CAD models to virtual prototyping

This paper studies the benefits that haptic feedback can provide in performing complex maintenance tasks using virtual mock-ups. We have carried out user study that consisted on two experiments where participants had to perform an accessibility task. A human-scale string-based haptic interface was used to provide the operator with haptic stimuli. A prop was used to provide grasp feedback. A mocap system tracks user’s hand and head movements while a 5DT data-glove is used to measure finger flexion. In the first experiment the effect of haptic (collision) and visual feedback are investigated. In the second experiment we investigated the effect of haptic guidance on operator performance. The results were analyzed in terms of task completion time and collision avoidance. Experiments show that haptic stimuli proved to be more efficient than visual ones. In addition, haptic guidance helped the operators to correct trajectories and hence improve their performance