Effect of haptic feedback on pseudo-haptic feedback for arm display

Abstract: We propose a haptic feedback system for an arm in order to obtain the sensation of stiffness and the boundary of virtual objects. Powerful haptic displays are large and heavy, interfering with movement in the virtual environment. Here, we focus on an illusion called pseudo-haptic feedback, which provides the results of haptic feedback using only visual impressions. Since pseudo-haptic feedback is known to be inappropriate for applications requiring strong force, a combination of pseudo-haptic feedback and real haptic feedback is proposed for a compact haptic display. This study examines the effectiveness of this combination by comparing the stiffness of two walls. Pseudo-haptic and real haptic feedbacks are applied to one wall, and only real haptic feedback is applied to the other wall. The results verify that the magnitude of the force perceived with the application of a combination of pseudo-haptic and real haptic feedbacks is greater than that of the force perceived by the application of only real haptic feedback.