Side-faced-type Multi-fingered Haptic Interface

This paper presents the design, control, and characteristics of a new type of haptic interface named side-facedtype multi-fingered haptic interface. The proposed side-faced-type multi-fingered haptic interface, consisting of a five-fingered haptic hand and an arm, can present three-directional forces at a user’s five fingertips. By locating the interface on the side of the user’s body, the interface allows the user to grasp a small virtual object using multiple fingers. Further, to realize the haptic display by the interface, a control system has been developed. Finally, several experiments have been carried out to investigate the validity of the developed interface. These results show the great potential of the side-faced-type multi-fingered haptic interface.