3D Stereo Viewing Evaluation for the Virtual Haptic Back Project

The purpose of the Virtual Haptic Back (VHB) project is to develop a realistic haptic/graphical model of the human back that can be used for palpation (diagnosis though touch) in medical training. The goal of this research is to design, implement, and evaluate methods to improve viewing realism for the VHB project by applying 3D stereo effects and bringing the virtual model to the user’s fingertips like in the real world. Two graphical viewing methods were designed and applied to the VHB project for evaluation along with the standard 23-inch flat-screen LCD monitor: a Head Mounted Display (HMD) with head tracking and a Mirror Viewing System (MVS) which combines graphic and haptic images so that the 3D stereo VHB model appears at the user’s fingertips. Evaluations with osteopathic medical students showed that both of these methods (especially the MVS) improve the VHB realism compared to the flat-screen monitor.