SEEING HAPTIC SENSATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF PSEUDO-HAPTIC FEEDBACK IN SENSORY INTEGRATION

Abstract

Virtual simulation interaction has become an almost essential part of everyday life. For instance, we play video games, use virtual reality for recreational and educational purposes, and work on our phones and computers for several hours each day. In order to enhance user experience and learning in virtual simulations, more real-world conditions that mimic reality are necessary. Research has shown that the brain integrates sensory information in an optimal fashion in order to improve performance. “Pseudo-haptic feedback,” a method that simulates haptic feedback through the use of visual stimuli, can be used as an additional sensory modality in virtual simulations to create a more life-like experience. However, there is not much research detailing whether pseudo- haptic feedback is integrated in a Bayesian fashion to enhance motor performance or whether pseudo-haptic feedback creates a psychological experience of haptic feedback. Here, we investigate how two different levels of pseudo-haptic feedback influence task performance, implicit depth perception, and explicit perceptual judgement. We find that the varying levels of pseudo-haptic feedback incorporated in this study do not influence the behavior of the two groups in any of the measured tasks. Our findings suggest that this type of pseudo-haptic feedback or the levels of the pseudo-haptic feedback used in this study are not sufficient to change performance, depth perception, or perceptual judgement.