Performance Benefits of High-Fidelity Passive Haptic Feedback in Virtual Reality Training

This work investigated how a tracked, real golf club, used for high-fidelity passive haptic feedback in virtual reality, affected performance relative to using tracked controllers for a golf putting task. The primary hypothesis evaluated in this work was that overall accuracy would be improved through various inertial advantages in swinging a real club as well as additional alignment and comfort advantages from placing the putter on the floor. We also expected higher user preference for the technique and correlation with putting performance in the real environment. To evaluate these prospective advantages, a user study with a cross-over design was conducted with 20 participants from the local population. Results confirmed performance advantages as well as preference for the tracked golf club over the controller, but we were not able to confirm a correlation with real-world putting. Future work will investigate means to strengthen this aspect, while evaluating new research opportunities presented by study findings.