A Survey on Haptic Technologies for Mobile Augmented Reality

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) applications have gained much research and industry attention. Moreover, the mobile counterpart—mobile augmented reality (MAR) is one of the most explosive growth areas for AR applications in the mobile environment (e.g., smartphones). The technical improvements in the hardware of smartphones, tablets, and smart-glasses provide an advantage for the wide use of mobile AR in the real world and experience these AR applications anywhere. However, the mobile nature of MAR applications can limit users’ interaction capabilities, such as input and haptic feedback. In this survey, we analyze current research issues in the area of human-computer interaction for haptic technologies in MAR scenarios. The survey first presents human sensing capabilities and their applicability in AR applications. We classify haptic devices into two groups according to the triggered sense: cutaneous/tactile : touch, active surfaces, and mid-air; kinesthetic : manipulandum, grasp, and exoskeleton. Due to MAR applications’ mobile capabilities, we mainly focus our study on wearable haptic devices for each category and their AR possibilities. To conclude, we discuss the future paths that haptic feedback should follow for MAR applications and their challenges.