A multi-finger haptic interface for visually impaired people

The present paper deals with a novel type of dual point haptic system. The system exploits a novel kind of kinematics to achieve a high isotropy which improves the force rendering. Other features of the system are its high stiffness, high peak forces together with a zero backlash cable based transmission. The device can be used by means of a set of sizeable thimbles by any pairs of user's fingertips. Such a device has been developed within the EU GRAB project, for testing a novel set of application with blind users. Such a project investigates to which extent a purely haptic environment can be employed from users with visual impairments in terms of the effective capabilities of the device to exchange high level information with the users; the real degree of interaction which can be achieved in this type of system; the effective opportunity for the user to profit from the system using just this type of interaction. The basic system concepts, the application environment and the system performances are given in the following.