Perceptualisation using a tactile mouse

Whilst there has been considerable effort in constructing force feedback devices for use in virtual environments, and in the use of touch as a prosthesis for the blind, there has been little work on the use of touch in the visualisation or more properly, perceptualisation of data. Touch potentially offers an additional dimension of perception where visualisation is limited by screen size, resolution, and visual overload. We describe some tactile mice and experiments in using tactile mice for a variety of perceptualisation tasks.