Estimating topographic heights with the StickGrip haptic device

This paper presents an experimental study aimed to investigate the impact of haptic feedback when trying to evaluate quantitatively the topographic heights depicted by height tints. In particular, the accuracy of detecting the heights has been evaluated visually and instrumentally by using the new StickGrip haptic device. The participants were able to discriminate the required heights specified in the scale bar palette and to detect these values within an assigned map region. It was demonstrated that the complementary haptic feedback increased the accuracy of visual estimation of the topographic heights by about 32%.