Haptic search for complex 3D shapes subject to geometric transformations or partial occlusion

摘要

Objects that we interact with in the surrounding environment are almost never observed at an identical position, orientation or perspective. Typically they undergo a wide range of transformations, with geometric transformations being the most common class. We have conducted a novel investigation of haptic search in which a target object has been subject to one of the four transformations: reflection, rotation, scaling, and partial occlusion. Our experimental scenario consisted of two steps. In the first step the study participants were asked to memorize a previously unknown target object. In the second step they had to search for this target object subject to one of the above-mentioned transformations in a larger search environment. Both the target object and the search environment were presented on a Modular Haptic Stimulus Board (MHSB), a framework that enables us to create arbitrary three-dimensional shapes, and has been devised to enable systematic investigation of haptic interaction on different levels of complexity. In our exploratory data analysis we estimate measures that reflect the performance during haptic search for transformed targets. Based on these measures we 1) compare the degree of difficulty caused by different transformations 2) evaluate the effect of search practice on performance.