Many application areas that involve visual displays can benefit from the addition f haptic feedback about the state the manmachine system that is being controlled. Due to technical and physical constraints interface signals are often delayed with respect to each other and/or with respect to the action of the user. As a result an interface consisting of a visual display and a haptic interaction device does not naturally stimulate the two modalities concurrently. Asynchronies between modealities can impede the completion time of manipulation tasks and decrease subjective telepresence. Knowledge about temporal sensitivities of the human perceptual system is therefore essential inthe design of man-machine interfaces. Some temporal characteristics of the visual, auditory and tactile senses have been studied in the past (e.g. Hirsh and Sherrick, 1961). However, the perception of synchrony between visuakland haptic stimuli has received little attention.
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