Haptic Applications Meta-Language

A wide range of haptic devices exist that possess the potential to offer users a rich experience in a virtual reality environment. This however depends on the haptic device to be used. Surely, removing the burden of users having to 'adjust to' operating haptic devices is welcomed. In this paper, we propose the creation of the Haptic Applications Meta Language - hereon HAML - which is an XML-based language created to describe Haptic-enabled frameworks to a high degree of detail. The envisioned goal of HAML is to allow for the creation of plug-and-play environments in which a wide array of supported haptic devices can be used in a multitude of virtual environments, with the compatibility issues being handled by automated engines instead of programmatically by the user. Therefore, we introduce the HAML framework and discuss its tentative structure, proof-of-concept implementation, and avenues for future work.