Dynamic simulation of tool-mediated texture interaction

Humans can feel fine surface details through a rigid probe by attending to the high-frequency vibrations caused by contact. To aid our efforts in creating realistic virtual textures, we sought to understand the dynamics of such interactions through a combination of data collection and offline simulation. A handheld probe was fitted with interchangeable hemispherical tool tips, accelerometers, a force sensor, and a magnetic motion tracker and then used to record interactions with a sinusoidal grating. We mathematically modeled this system using planar rigid-body dynamics, a lumped-parameter model of the human hand, an offset surface for collision detection, and Hertzian contact mechanics at the point(s) of interaction. Tuning the parameters of the hand enabled the simulation output to closely match the lateral and axial tool accelerations recorded at four combinations of tool tip size and tool speed.