A Framework for Virtual Hand Haptic Interaction

Virtual hand interactions play key roles in virtual environments. The recent addition of force feedback to virtual reality simulations has enhanced their realism, especially when dexterous manipulation of virtual objects is concerned. However, though there exist many works on virtual hand modeling regarding computer animation and interaction applications, much less attention is paid on haptic modeling of virtual hand. In this paper, we propose a framework for virtual hand haptic interaction. The modeling of a sophisticated virtual hand for haptic interactions is investigated with special attention paid on issues of visual realism, motion realism as well as force sensation. Specifically, our virtual hand model simulates natural anatomy in its appearance, motion and deformation, and reflects the feature of force feedback datagloves. Besides, virtual hand interactions based on the constructed virtual hand model are discussed. The proposed framework has been tested on a PC with a force feedback dataglove.