Surface interrogation methods for haptic rendering of virtual objects

The process which enables virtual objects to mimic their real world counterparts is known as realistic rendering in haptics. Realistic sensations could relate to any spatial feature like shape or texture. We have proposed a system here that aims at utilizing the shape information of a surface effectively to aid in object recognition through a haptic interface. This paper describes some surface interrogation techniques namely isophotes, contours and Gaussian curvature to assist in haptic rendering by drawing the user's attention to certain features on a surface that cannot be perceived by realistic means. The effectiveness of these tools, based on their behavior in an external environment, has also been compared. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate that perception of virtual surfaces can be enhanced by providing haptic feedbacks parameterized according to geometric features identified by surface interrogation.