Toward virtual manipulation: from one point of contact to four

This paper describes a series of kinematic and haptic analyses which lead to the design of a particularly simple, yet useful multi‐hand, multi‐finger haptic interface. The proposed device is desktop‐based and has been built with maximizing transparency in mind. By interacting with virtual environments, using two fingers per hand, users are able to grasp and manipulate virtual objects, something that current state‐of‐the‐art commercial desktop haptic devices do not allow. These additional capabilities lend themselves to more complex virtual reality and teleoperation applications such as surgical training, hand rehabilitation and nanomanipulation.