Haptics is a critical form of human interface with real or virtual environments, as touch is the only active sense that can be used when exploring or experiencing an environment. As a user interacts with environments through the haptic system, the system alters the user’s perception and motor control, which can affect task performance. Therefore, understanding a haptic system’s effects on the sensory-motor system and the implications of these interactions on task performance is important for the design of optimal haptic interface systems.

Our research focuses on characterization, modeling, and analysis of human motor performance when using stylus-based haptic interface devices. We combine human psychophysics experiments with analysis methods derived from system theory to model and study different aspects of human haptic interaction.

This is a MeRCIS project under the guidance of Dr. M. Cenk Cavusoglu.