Portable haptic interface

Abstract

A portable interface device (1) of haptic human-computer type which can be fixed to a hand (2) of an operator (3), capable of engaging with the operator (3) transmitting on the operator's hand fingertips tactile sensations following the shape of a virtual surface (4), in particular obtained from a real surface (5). The tactile sensations are transmitted to a fingertip by the device (1) through a movable and orientable surface contacting the fingertip while remaining tangential to the virtual surface (4). The device (1), by touching the user's fingertip only at the points of contact with the virtual surface (4), does not provide to the user (3) any tactile sensations on the or on each fingertip when it moves in a free space, obtaining a very high level of transparency of the device. The workspace of the interface device (1) is very high, and can be also infinite, using suitable position tracking systems.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.