Vibrotactile feedback offers a unique opportunity to augment or reconstruct impaired tactile sensations, whether that be in the form of enhancing prosthetics or specialized protective clothing. Important information about temperature and object slippage serve to endanger the human operator or equipment. This thesis presents three experiments which investigate amplitude modulated vibrotactile signals as a scalar dimension of roughness, the effect those signals and their locations (finger pad, forearm, bicep) have on the performance of two tasks: the sensing of temperatures simulated by vibrotactile signals and gripping an object of simulated surface texture. The results show task performance increase when the feedback and site of action are co-located for sensory tasks and decrease for manipulatory tasks.

This Report contains the proceedings of the Fourth Phantom Users Group Workshop contains 17 papers presented October 9-12, 1999 at MIT Endicott House in Dedham Massachusetts. The workshop included sessions on, Tools for Programmers, Dynamic Environments, Perception and Cognition, Haptic Connections, Collision Detection / Collision Response, Medical and Seismic Applications, and Haptics Going Mainstream. The proceedings include papers that cover a variety of subjects in computer haptics including rendering, contact determination, development libraries, and applications in medicine, path planning, data interaction and training.

In order to simulate both physically and visually realistic soft tissuedeformations, the Finite Element Method (FEM) is the mostpopular choice in the literature. However it is non-trivial to modelcomplex behaviour of soft tissue with sufficient refresh rates, especiallyfor haptic force feedback which requires an update rate ofthe order of 1 kHz. In this study the use of asynchronous regions isproposed to speed up the solution of FEM equations in real-time. Inthis way it is possible to solve the local neighborhood of the contactwith high refresh rates, while evaluating the more distant regions atlower frequencies, saving computational power to model complexbehaviour within the contact area. Solution of the different regionsusing different methods is also possible. To attain maximum efficiencythe size of the regions can be changed, in real-time, in responseto the size of the deformation.

Affective haptic research is a rapidly growing field. Today, more smart haptic clothes are being studied and implemented which are aimed to effect its users emotionally. However, they have some limitations. This research intends to improve the existing literature and contribute by involving consumers directly in the design of a smart haptic jacket by adding heat, vibration actuators, and by enhancing portability. In this thesis, we are interested in six basic emotions: love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, and fear. An online survey was designed and conducted on 92 respondents that gave feedback of what it is expected from an affective haptic jacket. The results of this survey assisted in the general design, and the feedback helped to build a prototype. 86% of the respondents expressed interest in the system and are willing to try it when it is ready. A detailed design architecture is provided along with details on the hardware and software used for the implementation. Finally, the prototype was evaluated on 14 participants using the actual prototype haptic jacket based on a QoE comparison between the absence and the presence of haptic actuation. The proposed system showed improvement over a similar system that is designed for the same purpose.

Affective haptic research is a rapidly growing field. Today, more smart haptic clothes are being studied and implemented which are aimed to effect its users emotionally. However, they have some limitations. This research intends to improve the existing literature and contribute by involving consumers directly in the design of a smart haptic jacket by adding heat, vibration actuators, and by enhancing portability. In this thesis, we are interested in six basic emotions: love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, and fear. An online survey was designed and conducted on 92 respondents that gave feedback of what it is expected from an affective haptic jacket. The results of this survey assisted in the general design, and the feedback helped to build a prototype. 86% of the respondents expressed interest in the system and are willing to try it when it is ready. A detailed design architecture is provided along with details on the hardware and software used for the implementation. Finally, the prototype was evaluated on 14 participants using the actual prototype haptic jacket based on a QoE comparison between the absence and the presence of haptic actuation. The proposed system showed improvement over a similar system that is designed for the same purpose.

<p>Applikationen Chemical Force Feedback (CFF) för haptisk och visuell molekylrendering som har utvecklats på Linköpings Universitet för att testa nyttan av haptik för undervisning av protein-ligand dockning för molekylär livsvetenskap behöver förbättras på ett antal punkter för att bättre kunna fungera som ett komplett</p><p>molekylvisualiserings-verktyg. Tidigare projekt som utvecklat applikationen har fokuserat mestadels på den haptiska delen av programmet, vilket gjort att den visuella aspekten kommit efter. Det här examensarbetet har implementerat diverse ny funktionalitet både för att förbättra direkt kännbara aspekter av programmet, samt att lägga grunden för framtida utökningar.</p><p>De huvudsakliga förbättringarna som det här exjobbet resulterat i inkluderar: För det första, integration av DSSP-algoritmen i programmet har gjort information om sekundärstrukturen hos protein tillgänglig för visualisering. För det andra, ett nytt renderings-system tillåter rendering av semitransparenta ytor på ett korrekt sätt samtidigt som det skapar en program-struktur som bättre lämpar sig för implementation av nya molekylrepresentationer. För det tredje, en filvals-komponent som fungerar i den haptiska scengrafen har designats för att göra programmets användargränssnitt mer tillgängligt.</p> / <p>The Chemical Force Feedback (CFF) visual and haptic molecule rendering application, being developed at Linköping University to evaluate the use of haptics as a teaching tool for protein-ligand docking in molecular life science requires several additional features to function as a mature protein visualization tool. Previous developments of the application have focused mostly on the haptic part of the program, leaving the visual representation somewhat under-developed.</p><p>This thesis project has implemented various features in order to both improve the immediate functionality of the application as well as lay down the foundation for future additions.</p><p>The main contributions of this thesis include: Firstly, integration of the DSSP algorithm has provided the application with secondary structure information for the protein visualization. Secondly, a new rendering system has provided support for rendering transparent surfaces in a correct way as well as simplifying future addition of new visual representations of molecules. Thirdly, a file-selection dialog have been implemented using the haptic scenegraph as a step toward the goal of making the user interface of the application more user-friendly.</p>

Applikationen Chemical Force Feedback (CFF) för haptisk och visuell molekylrendering som har utvecklats på Linköpings Universitet för att testa nyttan av haptik för undervisning av protein-ligand dockning för molekylär livsvetenskap behöver förbättras på ett antal punkter för att bättre kunna fungera som ett komplett molekylvisualiserings-verktyg. Tidigare projekt som utvecklat applikationen har fokuserat mestadels på den haptiska delen av programmet, vilket gjort att den visuella aspekten kommit efter. Det här examensarbetet har implementerat diverse ny funktionalitet både för att förbättra direkt kännbara aspekter av programmet, samt att lägga grunden för framtida utökningar. De huvudsakliga förbättringarna som det här exjobbet resulterat i inkluderar: För det första, integration av DSSP-algoritmen i programmet har gjort information om sekundärstrukturen hos protein tillgänglig för visualisering. För det andra, ett nytt renderings-system tillåter rendering av semitransparenta ytor på ett korrekt sätt samtidigt som det skapar en program-struktur som bättre lämpar sig för implementation av nya molekylrepresentationer. För det tredje, en filvals-komponent som fungerar i den haptiska scengrafen har designats för att göra programmets användargränssnitt mer tillgängligt. / The Chemical Force Feedback (CFF) visual and haptic molecule rendering application, being developed at Linköping University to evaluate the use of haptics as a teaching tool for protein-ligand docking in molecular life science requires several additional features to function as a mature protein visualization tool. Previous developments of the application have focused mostly on the haptic part of the program, leaving the visual representation somewhat under-developed. This thesis project has implemented various features in order to both improve the immediate functionality of the application as well as lay down the foundation for future additions. The main contributions of this thesis include: Firstly, integration of the DSSP algorithm has provided the application with secondary structure information for the protein visualization. Secondly, a new rendering system has provided support for rendering transparent surfaces in a correct way as well as simplifying future addition of new visual representations of molecules. Thirdly, a file-selection dialog have been implemented using the haptic scenegraph as a step toward the goal of making the user interface of the application more user-friendly.

Medical simulators have become commonly used to teach new procedures to medical students and clinicians. Their accessibility allows trainees to perform training whenever they desire, and their flexibility allows for various patient body types and conditions to be simulated. This is in contrast to {\it in-vivo} training, which requires direct supervision from a trained clinician, and access to a live patient or cadaver, both of which have restrictions. This thesis proposes a novel prototype system for spinal anesthesia procedures which combines the use of both a haptic device for virtual, ultrasound-guided (US) needle simulations, and a physical mannequin registered to a patient specific computed tomography (CT) volume in order to create an augmented reality (AR) overlay. The mannequin will provide the user with a greater sense of spatial awareness that is not present in a purely virtual simulation, as well as providing physical visual clues to navigate the patient. Another novel aspect is the simulation of US images from CT images deformed via a finite element model (FEM). The system is composed of a torso mannequin from Sawbones Inc., a MicronTracker2 optical tracking system from Claron Technology, a Sensable PHANToM Premium 1.5A haptic device and a graphical user interface (GUI) to display relevant visual feedback. The GUI allows the user to view the AR overlaid on the video feed, and the CT slice and simulated US image based the position/orientation of a dummy US probe. Forces during the insertion are created via the FEM and sent to the haptic device. These forces include force from needle tip insertion, friction along the length of the needle inside the body, and from displacing the needle off its original insertion axis. Input to the system consists of a patient CT volume. The system is able to create forces that closely match those reported in the literature. A user study consisting of subjects with expertise ranging from familiarity with medical imaging to clinical experience with needle insertion procedures, was performed to qualitatively analyze the performance of the system. Three experienced physicians were also consulted for input and improvements. The feedback received from the questionnaire, and comments from the subjects and physicians, showed the system is able to simulate a real needle insertion quite well, and the graphical aids added were helpful during the training procedure. / Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-11-27 00:04:32.173

In cooperative networked haptic systems, some distributed distant users may decide to leave or join the cooperation while other users continue to manipulate the shared virtual object (SVO). Cooperative haptic systems that support interaction among a variable number of users, called scalable haptic cooperation systems herein, are the focus of this research. In this thesis, we develop distributed control strategies that provide stable and realistic force feedback to a varying number of users manipulating a SVO when connected across a computer network with imperfections (such as limited packet update rate, delay, jitter, and packet-loss). We fi rst propose the average position (AP) scheme to upper bound the effective stiff ness of the SVO coordination and thus, to enhance the stability of the distributed multi-user haptic cooperation. For constant and small communication delays and over power-domain communications, the effectiveness of the proposed AP paradigm is compared with the traditional proportional-derivative (PD) scheme via multi-rate stability and performance analyses supported with experimental verif cations. Next, in a passivity-based approach, the scalability is pursued by implementing the AP scheme over wave-domain communication channels along with passive simulation of the dynamics. By constructing a passive distributed SVO in closed-loop with passive human users and haptic devices, we guarantee the stability of the distributed haptic cooperation system. However, energy leak at joining/leaving instances may compromise the passivity of the SVO. We examine the preservation of passivity of the proposed SVO scheme for such situations. A switching algorithm is then introduced in order to improve the performance of the cooperative haptic system. Experiments in which three users take turn in leaving or joining the cooperation over a network with varying delay and packet-loss will support the theoretical results. / Graduate / 0771 / 0548 / 0537 / 0544 / rrakhsha@uvic.ca

Affective haptic research is a rapidly growing field. Today, more smart haptic clothes are being studied and implemented which are aimed to effect its users emotionally. However, they have some limitations. This research intends to improve the existing literature and contribute by involving consumers directly in the design of a smart haptic jacket by adding heat, vibration actuators, and by enhancing portability. In this thesis, we are interested in six basic emotions: love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, and fear. An online survey was designed and conducted on 92 respondents that gave feedback of what it is expected from an affective haptic jacket. The results of this survey assisted in the general design, and the feedback helped to build a prototype. 86% of the respondents expressed interest in the system and are willing to try it when it is ready. A detailed design architecture is provided along with details on the hardware and software used for the implementation. Finally, the prototype was evaluated on 14 participants using the actual prototype haptic jacket based on a QoE comparison between the absence and the presence of haptic actuation. The proposed system showed improvement over a similar system that is designed for the same purpose.