Unison: A generic framework for hapto-visual application development.

Abstract

Given the advancements in computer input and output via visual and auditory media, the next natural progression is to include the sense of touch via what is called haptic media. In this thesis, we review the evolution of auditory, visual, and haptic media since the 1940s, within the context of human-computer interaction, as a historical backdrop to our examination of current practices in hapto-visual application development. Assessing the fragmented, non-standardized development processes in use today to write hapto-visual applications, we try to find similarities and common denominators within the aforementioned processes, in order to come up with a generic framework that the application developer needs to be concerned only with, regardless of underlying technologies. In this work, we introduce Unison as a viable, extensible solution to standardize hapto-visual application development and detail its workings and implementation issues. We also present a scenario which has been used as a development tool for a hapto-visual e-commerce application, and conclude with suggestions for future work.