Six-oof haptic interaction with fluids, solids, and their transitions

Haptic interaction with different types of materials in the same scene is a challenging task, mainly due to the specific coupling mechanisms that are usually required for either fluid, deformable or rigid media. Dynamically-changing materials, such as melting or freezing objects, present additional challenges by adding another layer of complexity in the interaction between the scene and the haptic proxy. In this paper, we address these issues through a common simulation framework, based on Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics, and enable haptic interaction simultaneously with fluid, elastic and rigid bodies, as well as their melting or freezing. We introduce a mechanism to deal with state changes, allowing the perception of haptic feedback during the process, and a set of dynamic mechanisms to enrich the interaction through the proxy. We decouple the haptic and visual loops through a dual GPU implementation. An initial evaluation of the approach is performed through performance and feedback measurements, as well as a small user study assessing the capability of users to recognize the different states of matter they interact with.