Haptic interaction design [panel workshop]

Haptic interaction design is that phase of product development where one designs the interaction with the product that occurs through touch and manual control. This activity includes the design of the physical interaction components and devices, as well as the design of the modalities for interacting with them, also including the integration with other modalities as vision and sound (crossmodal interaction). The kind of interaction depends on the product attributes and on its functionalities, and also on the target users of the product. For example, the design of haptic interaction devoted to skilled users requires the acquisition of knowledge about the users´ skills and dexterity, about the users´ objectives in using the product, so as to best exploit the ways these users are used to do things and to perform manual tasks. Alternatively, one can design products integrating haptic and touch as a novel interaction modality, which proposes users a new way of doing the usual things. Or one can even design a novel physical interaction that aims at creating new emotional and compelling experiences for the potential future users of the product. Therefore, the haptic interaction design requires various methods, tools and technologies that are enabled by multi-disciplinary expertise.