Z-clutching: Interaction technique for navigating 3D virtual environment using a generic haptic device

Abstract

Navigating a large 3D virtual environment using a generic haptic device can be challenging since the haptic device is usually bounded by its own physical workspace. On the other hand, mouse interaction easily handles the situation with a clutching mechanism-simply lifting the mouse and repositioning its location in the physical space. Since the haptic device is used for both input and output at the same time, in many cases, its freedom needs to be limited in order to accommodate such a situation. In this paper, we propose a new mechanism called Z-Clutching for 3D navigation of a virtual environment by using only the haptic device without any interruption or sacrifice in the given degrees of freedom of the device's handle. We define the clutching state which is set by pulling the haptic handle back into space. It acts similarly to lifting the mouse off the desk. In this way, the user naturally feels the haptic feedback based on the depth (z-direction), while manipulating the haptic device and moving the view as desired. We conducted a user study to evaluate the proposed interaction technique, and the results are promising in terms of the usefulness of the proposed mechanism. Copyright 2016. The Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers.