Haptic rendering

Haptic rendering is the process of computing and generating forces in response to user interactions with virtual objects. Recent efforts by our team at MIT's AI laboratory have resulted in the development of haptic interface devices and algorithms for generating the forces of interaction with virtual objects. This paper focuses on the software techniques needed to generate sensations of contact interaction and material properties. In particular, the techniques we describe are appropriate for use with the Phantom haptic interface, a force generating display device developed in our laboratory. We also briefly describe a technique for representing and rendering the feel of arbitrary polyhedral shapes and address issues related to rendering the feel of non-homogeneous materials. A number of demonstrations of simple haptic tasks which combine our rendering techniques are also described.