Grip force response in graphical and haptic virtual environment

Current state of the art in virtual environment development allows different levels of immersion, from graphical environments, where only visual information is conveyed to the user, to haptic environments, where whole set of visual and kinesthetic information is conveyed to the user. This paper presents results of two experimental sets conducted one in a haptic virtual environment (HVE) and second in a graphical virtual experiment (GVE). The grip force response to a haptic or visual cue is investigated and compared. Although the underlying neural control mechanism triggered by haptic or visual cue are different, both responses are well pronounced, have similar shape and can thus be compared. Response triggered by the haptic cue has shorter delay, is stronger and shorter in duration in comparison to the response triggered by the visual cue.