Does DOF separation on elastic devices improve user 3D steering task performance?

Abstract

We investigated the use of a new haptic device called the DigiHaptic in a 3D steering task. Unlike other devices intended to interact in 3D with one end-effector, the DigiHaptic has three levers that the user may handle simultaneously or not in elastic mode to rate control objects. We compared it to the SpaceMouse - another elastic device - to evaluate the influence that degrees of freedom (DOF) separation have in terms of accuracy (coordination and errors) and speed (time). The task consisted of steering paths that required the use of two or three DOF simultaneously. We found that users performed faster on the SpaceMouse but were less coordinated and accurate than on the DigiHaptic for the most complicated paths. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.