Haptic Visualization with 2D Lateral Force Using SPIDAR-Mouse in Molecular Docking

A haptic visualization system was made with the SPIDAR-mouse for 2D lateral force feedback in molecular docking. An educational environment requires factors such as easy installation, low cost, and reasonable performance, which the SPIDAR-mouse can provide. However, it limits the representation of force to 2D, even though the molecular interaction includes 3D phenomena. Our approach to the solution is to map the surface of 3D molecules to the 2D plane. The haptic rendering is done by calculating forces with the 2D map, which largely reduces the computational cost. The molecular interaction based on the electro-static potential and conformational properties is displayed with the 2D lateral force feedback using the SPIDAR-mouse.