Midair Haptic Representation for Internal Structure in Volumetric Data Visualization

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a method to perceive the internal structure of volumetric data using midair haptics. In this method, we render haptic stimuli using a Gaussian mixture model to approximate the internal structure of the volumetric data. The user’s hand is tracked by a sensor and is represented in a virtual space. Users can touch volumetric data with virtual hands. The focal points of the ultrasound phased arrays for presenting the sense of touch are determined from the the position of the user’s hand and the contact point of the virtual hand on the volumetric data. These haptic cues allow the user to directly perceive the sensation of touching the inside of the volumetric data. Our proposal is a solution for the occlusion problem in volumetric data visualization.