Special Issue on Haptics, Tactile and Multimodal Interfaces

Abstract

Haptics as a science has matured to provide a viable interface for engineering applications. The haptic interface has been widely adopted as a teaching and training tool. Force feedback technology has been used as an interface for training in advanced skills such as surgery, calligraphy, assembly tasks and medical palpation. Haptics has also found applications in rehabilitation of upper limbs affected by stroke. In the field of medicine, many surgical procedures have been simulated using haptic interfaces. Closely engineered systems have been developed to simulate specific surgical procedures, including endovascular therapy, laparoscopy, catheter insertions and robot assisted surgery.