Multisensory platform for surgical simulation

Advanced display technologies have made the virtual exploration of relatively complex models feasible in many applications. Unfortunately, only a few human interfaces allow natural interaction with the environment. Moreover in surgical applications, such realistic interaction requires real time rendering of volumetric data-placing an overwhelming performance burden on the system. We report on a collaboration of a unique interdisciplinary group developing a virtual reality system that provides intuitive interaction with complex volume data by employing real time realistic volume rendering and convincing force feedback (haptic) sensations. We describe our rendering methods and the haptic devices in detail and demonstrate the utilization of this system in the real world application of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (ESS) simulation.