Haptic Systems in User Interfaces - State of the Art Survey

Over the past decade, the advancements in force-feedback (haptic) systems, facilitated the inclusion of the tactile communication channel in a variety of user interfaces. Tactile sensors are distributed over the entire human body, hence a diversity of haptic hardware configurations are possible. The applications span from: force-feedback systems - conveying large forces, to vibrotactile systems - conveying smaller forces to the human sensory system. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art in force-feedback and vibrotactile hardware with references to associated software. The main application domains, several prominent applications, as well as significant research efforts are highlighted. Additionally the survey defines the terms and the paradigms used in the haptic technology domain.