Exploration and manipulation of virtual environments using a combined hand and finger force feedback system

This paper presents a combined system for hand and finger kinesthetic feedback for the exploration and manipulation of different kinds of rigid objects in virtual environments. A 3 degrees-of-freedom haptic interface (DeKiFeD3) with the capability to generate kinesthetic hand feedback is combined with a commercial haptic glove to generate additional kinesthetic feedback to the fingers of a human operator. This system results in a new quality of kinesthetic perception and needs appropriate rendering algorithms as described in this paper. The article also presents an approach to improve the operator's immersion into a virtual scenario by adding auditory and visual feedback.