Using Haptics in a Networked Immersive 3D Environment

Chris Gunn

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia.

2007

 

Abstract

Haptic (force) feedback has had limited use outside laboratory environments due to the high purchase cost of the equipment. Potential users and their managers have no evidence that the benefits that it provides outweigh the costs involved. While the cost can be expected to ease with time, at present it is limiting the spread of the technology. While haptics enthusiasts may be convinced of its value, there is a lack of evidence of the techniques and the types of applications that can benefit from a haptic interface. This thesis examines the utility that haptics provides to a computer user. It does this by following a series of publications written by the author on various aspects of the subject and adds to these the results of some, as-yet unpublished, experiments. The publications describe several immersive, 3D prototypes and applications that were developed by the author and his colleagues in the CSIRO Virtual Environments Laboratory in Canberra, Australia between 1999 and 2006. The work shows that haptic feedback can be successfully integrated into artistic, planning and teaching environments and in these cases it can enhance the user’s perception of the virtual environment being depicted. All the software for these applications was built upon a framework that originated from the laboratory and is described in some of the papers included in the thesis. The networking of haptic applications is covered by several of the papers as well as analysed more closely in the text. The author has been able to create collaborative haptic applications that run successfully over much larger distances than were previously thought possible, overcoming some of the problems introduced by the inherent latency of the network. It should be noted, however, that the solutions detailed will only apply to interaction with certain types of virtual objects and do not provide a general solution to latency that will cover any scenario. Nonetheless, the techniques do satisfactorily cover many of the situations that are likely to be encountered when developing virtual reality simulation software.

Table of Contents

I. ABSTRACT

II. CONTENTS

III. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IV. STATEMENT OF CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2. RELATED WORK

CHAPTER 3. SIMULATING REALITY

CHAPTER 4. AUGMENTING REALITY

CHAPTER 5. EXTENDING REALITY

CHAPTER 6. FORCE FIELDS

CHAPTER 7. HAPTIC GUIDANCE USER STUDY

CHAPTER 8. TRANS-WORLD HAPTICS

CHAPTER 9. LATENCY AND STABILITY

CHAPTER 10. SURGICAL TRAINING

CHAPTER 11. ACCOMMODATING A CLASS

CHAPTER 12. A CLINICAL STUDY

CHAPTER 13. SCULPTING IN PAIRS

CHAPTER 14. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX A : EXPERIMENT CONSENT AND INFORMATION FORM

APPENDIX B : SCULPTING EXPERIMENT RAW RESULTS

APPENDIX C : MINE PLANNING EXPERIMENT PLAN

APPENDIX D : MINE PLANNING EXPERIMENT RAW RESULTS

APPENDIX E : RESIDUALS

APPENDIX F : ANALYSIS OF VARIATION RESULTS

APPENDIX G : ABILITY-TO-IGNORE-FEEDBACK RESULTS

APPENDIX H : ACRONYMS