Haptic visualization of computational fluid dynamics data using reactive forces

Datasets from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be post-processed and visualized to aid understanding of the flow phenomena present. Visualization of CFD data, however, often suffers from problems such as occlusion and cluttering when methods such as glyphing and volume rendering are applied. In this paper we present a case study where new modes for haptic interaction are used to enhance the exploration of CFD data. A VR environment with interactive graphics and an integrated graphical user interface has been implemented. In contrast to previous work on haptic interaction with CFD data we employ a 'reactive' haptic scheme as opposed to direct force maping. The reactive approach not only generates more stable feedback but also provides clearer and more intuitive cues about the underlying data. Two haptic modes are used to enhance the understanding of different features in the flow data: One presents the orientation of the data and also guides the user to follow the stream as it flows around the aircraft fuselage. The other provides a haptic representation of vortex data. This mode enables the user to perceive and so follow tendencies of vorticity and vortices.