“Tap, squeeze and stir” the virtual world: Touching the different states of matter through 6DoF haptic interaction

Haptic interaction with virtual objects is a major concern in the virtual reality field. There are many physically-based efficient models that enable the simulation of a specific type of media, e.g. fluid volumes, deformable and rigid bodies. However, combining these often heterogeneous algorithms in the same virtual world in order to simulate and interact with different types of media can be a complex task. In this paper, we propose the first haptic rendering technique for the simulation and the interaction with multistate media, namely fluids, deformable bodies and rigid bodies, in real-time and with 6DoF haptic feedback. Based on the Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) physical model for all three types of media, our method avoids the complexity of dealing with different algorithms and their coupling. We achieve high update rates while simulating a physically-based virtual world governed by fluid and elasticity theories, and show how to render interaction forces and torques through a 6DoF haptic device.