A Bidirectional Haptic Communication Framework and an Authoring Tool for an Instant Messenger

Haptic is a promising interface modality for the non-verbal expression. Since an instant messenger is an intimate conversation method for computer users in these days, there are several research trends [1] to combine instant messenger with a haptic device. This paper aims to provide a haptic communication framework for achieving three goals: 1) To author a sequence of actions of versatile haptic devices. 2) To receive haptic-emoticon (we call TouchCon) from network peer. 3) To send TouchCon by user command or sensor input. With this system, user can do chatting with not only text and bitmap emoticons, but also user-composed haptic actions.