Recordable haptic textures

Abstract - In this paper we present a method to record the surface texture of real life objects like metal files, sandpaper etc. These textures can subsequently be played back on virtual surfaces. Our method has the advantage that it can record textures using commonly available haptic hardware. We use the 3DOF SensAble PHANToM® to record the textures. The algorithm involves creating recordings of the frequency content of a real surface, by exploring it with a haptic device. We estimate the frequency spectra at two different velocities, and subsequently interpolate between them on a virtual surface. The extent of correlation between real and simulated spectra was estimated and a near exact spectral match was obtained. The simulated texture was played back using the same haptic device. The algorithm to record and playback textures is simple and can be easily implemented for planar surfaces with uniform textures. © 2006 IEEE.