Influence of Auditory Pitch on Haptic Estimation of Spatial Height

This paper presents an experiment aimed at assessing the influence of auditory feedback on haptic estimation of size. Experimental subjects were instructed to explore a virtual 3D object (a stair-step) with a haptic device, and to return a verbal estimate of the step riser height. Haptic exploration was accompanied with a real-time generated sinusoid whose pitch varied as a function of the interaction point's height within two different ranges. Experimental results show that the haptic estimation is robust and accurate regardless the frequency range of the accompanying sound.