A brain-computer interface to examine the effects of sound on a haptic-based virtual drilling task

Despite the recent hardware and computational advancements, virtual simulations and serious games have generally been restricted to cognitive skills training given the complexities and costs associated with high-end haptic-based rendering inherent in a variety of applications including those related to medical-based technical skills development. In this paper, we explore the effect of sound on haptic fidelity perception (with respect to a virtual drilling task), to determine whether sound can be used to increase our perception of haptic fidelity perception. To validate the effects we use data obtained from a brain-computer interface (BCI) and user ratings on the haptics and sound experience. Although our results are very preliminary, they do indicate that sound can influence (increase) haptic fidelity perception. Furthermore, our results also demonstrate the difficulty associated in employing a consumer-level BCI device in such a situation.