Force display performs better than visual display in a simple 6-D docking task

A simplified docking problem is studied. The user attempts to find the potential-energy minimum in a 6-D space defined by six Hooke´s-law springs attached to a manipulable object. This space has no other local minima. A pilot-controlled experiment with seven subjects, twelve trials each, showed that performance with a force display is better (p<0.01) than performance with a visual display alone, and that subjects are able to find the zero-force position more than twice as fast with a force display alone than with a visual display alone. Also described is a way of graphically representing the resultants of a set of forces and torques acting on a body. Even though the experiment shows force display to be more effective, it also shows that the simple 6-D docking task can reliably be done with this visual display alone