ABSTRACT

Haptic technology refers to technology that interfaces to

the user via the sense of touch by applying forces,
vibrations and/or motions to the user. This mechanical
stimulation may be used to assist in the creation of
virtual objects (objects existing only in a computer
simulation), for control of such virtual objects, and to
enhance the remote control of machines and devices .
The word haptic, from the Greek ἁπτικός (haptikos),
means pertaining to the sense of touch, and comes from
the Greek verb ἅπτεσθαι haptesthai meaning to
“contact” or “touch”.Some low-end haptic devices are
already common in the form of game controllers, in
particular of joysticks and steering wheels.
 INTRODUCTION

History of Haptics
In the early 20th century, psychophysicists introduced
the word haptics (from the Greek haptesthai meaning to
touch) to label the sub field of their studies that
addressed human touch-based perception and
manipulation. In the 1970s and 1980s, significant
research efforts in a completely different field—robotics—
also began to focus on manipulation and perception by
touch. Initially concerned with building autonomous
robots, researchers soon found that building a dexterous
robotic hand was much more complex and subtle than
their initial naive hopes had suggested .In time these two
communities—one that sought to understand the human
hand and one that aspired to create devices with
dexterity inspired by human abilities—found fertile
mutual interest
in topics such as sensory design and processing, grasp
control and manipulation, object representation and
haptic information encoding, and grammars for
describing physical tasks.
In the early 1990s a new usage of the word haptics
began to emerge. The confluence of several emerging
technologies made virtualized haptics, or computer
haptics,1 possible. Much like computer graphics,
computer haptics enables the display of simulated
objects to humans in an interactive manner. However,
computer haptics uses a display technology through
which objects can be physically palpated. This new
sensory display modality presents information by
exerting controlled forces on the human hand through a
haptic interface (rather than, as in computer graphics, via
light from a visual display device). These forces depend
on the physics of mechanical contact. The characteristics
of interest in these forces depend on the response of the
sensors in the human hand and other body parts (rather
than on the eye’s sensitivity to brightness, color, motion,
and so on). Unlike computer graphics, haptic interaction
is bidirectional, with energy and information flows both to
and from the user. Although Knoll demonstrated haptic
interaction with simple virtual objects at least as early as
the 1960s, only recently was sufficient technology
available to make haptic interaction with complex
computer-simulated objects possible. The combination of
high-performance force-controllable haptic interfaces,
computational geometric modeling and collision
techniques, cost-effective processing and memory, and
an understanding of the perceptual needs of the human
haptic system allows us to assemble computer haptic
systems that can display objects of sophisticated
complexity and behavior. With the commercial availability
of 3 degree-of-freedom haptic interfaces, software
toolkits from several corporate and academic sources,
and several commercial haptics-enabled applications, the
field is experiencing rapid and exciting growth.

What is it!!
Haptics technologies provide force feedback to users
about the physical properties and movements of virtual
objects represented by a computer. A haptic joystick, for
example, offers dynamic resistance to the user based on
the actions of a video game. Historically, human-
computer interaction has been visual—words, data, or
images on a screen. Input devices such as the keyboard
or the mouse translate human movements into actions on
the screen but provide no feedback to the user about
those actions. Haptics incorporates both touch (tactile)
and motion (kinesthetic) elements. For applications that
simulate real physical properties—such as weight,
momentum, friction, texture, or resistance—haptics
communicates those properties through interfaces that
let users “feel” what is happening on the screen.

How it works!!
Haptics tools are used in a variety of educational settings,
both to teach concepts and to train students in specific
techniques. Some faculty employ haptic devices to teach
physics, for example, giving students a virtual
environment in which they can manipulate and
experience the physical properties of objects and the
forces that act on them. Such devices allow students to
interact with experiments that demonstrate gravity,
friction, momentum, and other forces. In subjects such as
biology and chemistry, haptic devices create virtual
models of molecules and other microscopic structures
that students can manipulate. In this way, students can
“feel” the surfaces of B cells and antigens, for example,
testing how they fit together and developing a deeper
understanding of how a healthy immune system
functions.
Many disciplines depend on the execution of physical
techniques with a high degree of precision and dexterity,
and instruction in these fields can take advantage of
haptic technology to help students hone those skills.
Medical students can use haptic devices to develop a
sense of what it feels like to give an epidural injection,
perform laparoscopic surgical procedures, use dental or
orthopedic drills, or any number of other highly tactile
techniques. Such simulators give users the opportunity to
develop a tactile sense of the structures, organs, and
tissues of the body. Flight simulators combine visual and
auditory elements with haptic technology, including
resistance and vibrations in the controls, allowing student
pilots to experience the kinds of sensations they will feel
when flying real planes.
Where is it going?
Development and refining of various kinds of haptic
interfaces will continue, providing more and increasingly
lifelike interactions with virtual objects and environments.
Researchers will continue to investigate possible avenues
for haptics to complement real experiences. Advances in
hardware will provide opportunities to produce haptic
devices in smaller packages, and haptic technology will
find
its way into increasingly commonplace tools. Additionally,
consumer-grade haptic devices are starting to appear on
the market. As access to haptics increases, usage
patterns and preferences will inform best practices and
applications—ultimately, users will decide which activities
are appropriately represented through haptics and which
are perhaps better left in the real world.
Applications of Haptic Technology
It's not difficult to think of ways to apply haptics. Video
game makers have been early adopters of passive
haptics, which takes advantage of vibrating joysticks,
controllers and steering wheels to reinforce on-screen
activity. But future video games will enable players to
feel and manipulate virtual solids, fluids, tools and
avatars. The Novint Falcon haptics controller is already
making this promise a reality. The 3-D force feedback
controller allows you to tell the difference between a
pistol report and a shotgun blast, or to feel the resistance
of a longbow's string as you pull back an arrow.

Graphical user interfaces, like those that define Windows

and Mac operating environments, will also benefit greatly
from haptic interactions. Imagine being able to feel
graphic buttons and receive force feedback as you
depress a button. Some touchscreen manufacturers are
already experimenting with this technology. Nokia phone
designers have perfected a tactile touchscreen that
makes on-screen buttons behave as if they were real
buttons. When a user presses the button, he or she feels
movement in and movement out. He also hears an
audible click. Nokia engineers accomplished this by
placing two small piezoelectric sensor pads under the
screen and designing the screen so it could move slightly
when pressed. Everything -- movement and sound -- is
synchronized perfectly to simulate real button
manipulation.

Although several companies are joining Novint and Nokia

in the push to incorporate haptic interfaces into
mainstream products, cost is still an obstacle. The most
sophisticated touch technology is found in industrial,
military and medical applications. Training with haptics is
becoming more and more common. For example, medical
students can now perfect delicate surgical techniques on
the computer, feeling what it's like to suture blood
vessels in an anastomosis or inject BOTOX into the
muscle tissue of a virtual face. Aircraft mechanics can
work with complex parts and service procedures,
touching everything that they see on the computer
screen . And soldiers can prepare for battle in a variety of
ways, from learning how to defuse a bomb to operating a
helicopter tank or fighter jet in virtual combat scenarios.

Haptic technology is also widely used in teleoperation, or

telerobotics. In a telerobotic system, a human operator
controls the movements of a robot that is located some
distance away. Some teleoperated robots are limited to
very simple tasks, such as aiming a camera and sending
back visual images. In a more sophisticated form of
teleoperation known as telepresence, the human
operator has a sense of being located in the robot's
environment. Haptics now makes it possible to include
touch cues in addition to audio and visual cues in
telepresence models. It won't be long before astronomers
and planet scientists actually hold and manipulate a
Martian rock through an advanced haptics-enabled
telerobot -- a high-touch version of the Mars Exploration
Rover.

Computer scientists in Greece are incorporating

haptic technology into touchable maps for the blind. To
create a map, researchers shoot video of a real-world
location, either an architectural model of a building or a
city block. Software evaluates the video frame by frame
to determine the shape and location of every object. The
data results in a three-dimensional grid of force fields for
each structure. Using a haptic interface device, a blind
person can feel these forces and, along with audio cues,
get a much better feel of a city's or building's layout.
CONCLUSION:
Haptic is the future for online computing and e-
commerce, it will enhance the shopper experience and
help online shopper to feel the merchandise without
leave their home. Because of the increasing applications
of haptics, the cost of the haptic deviceswill drop in
future. This will be one of the major reasons for
commercializing haptics. With many new haptic devices
being sold to industrial companies, haptics will soon be a
part of a person’s normal computer interaction.This
emerging technology promises to have Wide reaching
applications. In some fields it already has For example
,haptic technology has made it possible to investigate to
how the human sense of touch works , by allowing the
creation of carefully controlled haptic virtual objects and
hence they are used to probe human haptic capabilities

REFERENCES
R ADAMS AND B.HANFORD “Stable haptics interaction
with virtual enviroment”,IEEE Trans,Robotics and
Automation vol 15,no 3,1999 pp 465-474

V Hayward and O Astley,’Performance measures for

haptics interfaces”,proc 1996 robotics research:7th
int’lsymp,E Giralt and G Hinzinger,ed springer
verlag,1996,pp195-207

www.ieeexplore.com
www.sensable.com/products/datafiles/phanto
www.sensable.com
www.immersion.com
www.logitech.comwww.technologyreview.com
www.wikipedia.org