Javier Posselt, Renault SAS, France - Lionel Dominjon, CLARTE, France - Alexandre Bouchet, CLARTE, France - Andras Kemeny, Renault SAS, France, Toward virtual touch : investigating encounter-type haptics for
perceived quality assessment in the automotive industry), 14th annual EuroVR conference - EuroVR, 11-13 december 2017, Laval, France.
Introduction
In a Virtual Reality simulation, haptic devices allow tangible interaction with the virtual environment by providing a physical feedback to the user. Most of the devices usually have to be permanently held by the user and do not allow for touching virtual objects in a natural fashion. Yet, many applications require hand-free interaction. This is particularly the case with simulations that require tactile exploration of the physical properties of virtual objects such as car interior assessments. Encountertype haptic devices (ETHD) allow such a hand-free interaction, but most of the current systems feature only a restricted workspace and low endpoint stiffness. We present here an early prototype of an ETHD designed to allow a user to touch and feel large and stiff virtual environments such as a car cockpit.
