An improved switching vector median filter for image-based haptic texture generation

In this paper, we present a novel approach to generation of haptic texture from visual image for modelling the constraint forces in tangent direction of a surface, based on which the texture force (friction) can be calculated. One significant difference from conventional image-based haptic texture is that an improved switching vector median filter (ISVMF) was employed to replace the gray-scale Gaussian filter for preserving fine detail information of the image. As a result, the new haptic texture rendering algorithm can convey tactile patterns based on fine features of the image and is much more realistic than those published in the literature.