Aspects of Haptic Feedback in a Multi-modal Interface for Object Modelling

In our everyday life, interaction with the world consists of a complex mixture of audio (speech and sounds), vision and touch. Hence, we may conclude that the most natural means of human communication is multi-modal. Our overall research goal is to develop a natural 3D human-computer interaction framework for modelling purposes without mouse or keyboard and where many different sensing modalities will be used simultaneously and cooperatively. This article will focus on the various interface issues on the way to an intuitive environment in which one or more users can model their prototypes in a natural manner. Some technical framework decisions, such as messaging and network systems, will also be investigated.