Haptic Device Control – Will it Fit Standardized Input Models?

Over recent years a wide variety of interaction devices involving haptic feedback have been brought to the market, but they vary widely in terms of input measures recorded. These range from one dimensional input on a haptic feedback steering wheel to a six degree of freedom position and orientation device and further, to assemblies of such devices. On the surface most of the variations can be accommodated logically with standardized input models combining existing logical input devices and haptic feedback processes as acknowledgement/echos. However it is very uncertain whether such a model can adequately model the system requirements for effective haptic feedback. In this paper we review the input models that have developed over the past 20 years and ask "Is it the end of the road for the conceptual model of input incorporated into the early graphics standards and elaborated over the years?" In addition, to highlight the problems of implementation with haptic interaction, we describe a typical application, the simulation of a collision with a virtual wall.