Tactile Perception Of Textiles In A Virtual-reality System

Cognitive Systems Monographs Volume 10 Editors: Rüdiger Dillmann · Yoshihiko Nakamura · Stefan Schaal · David Vernon Dennis Allerkamp Tactile Perception of Textiles in a Virtual-Reality System ABC Rüdiger Dillmann, University of Karlsruhe, Faculty of Informatics, Institute of Anthropomatics, Humanoids and Intelligence Systems Laboratories, Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany Yoshihiko Nakamura, Tokyo University Fac. Engineering, Dept. Mechano-Informatics, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bukyo-ku Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan Stefan Schaal, University of Southern California, Department Computer Science, Computational Learning & Motor Control Lab., Los Angeles, CA 90089-2905, USA David Vernon, Khalifa University Department of Computer Engineering, PO Box 573, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Author Dipl.-Math. Dennis Allerkamp Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover Institut für Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation Fachgebiet Graphische Datenverarbeitung Welfengarten 1 30167 Hannover Germany E-mail: [email protected] ISBN 978-3-642-13973-4 e-ISBN 978-3-642-13974-1 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-13974-1 Cognitive Systems Monographs ISSN 1867-4925 Library of Congress Control Number: 2010929202 c  2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typeset & Cover Design: Scientific Publishing Services Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India. Printed on acid-free paper 543210 springer.com Preface This monograph originates from my work on the HAPTEX project. In December 2004 Prof. Franz-Erich Wolter, the head of the Institute of Man– Machine Communication of the Leibniz Universit¨ at Hannover, offered me the opportunity to participate in that EU funded project. Being a mathematician I had only very little experience in the field of haptic simulation in those days, but Prof. Wolter trusted in my ability to become acquainted with new fields of research in a very short time. I am still thankful for the confidence he has shown me. Since then I indeed learned and found out a lot. With this monograph I try to pass on the knowledge I gained. Having a reader in mind who—like me at the beginning of the project—has no background in psychophysics, neurophysiology or textile engineering I will provide the necessary basics. The skilled reader may safely skip these parts. Nevertheless I presume some basic knowledge in mathematics. I hope that this thesis might help a newcomer to discover the fascinating field of tac