ABSTRACT
Haptic technology provides the possibility of widening access to information and artefacts held in museums. Haptic, or force-feedback, devices allow people to use their sense of touch in computer-based applications. Until recently, most computerbased simulations of objects were visual. The user might don a headset that presented a three-dimensional image or look at a computer screen to see an object. There might also be some sound to improve the display. One key element that is missing is the ability to feel the object – to get a sense of how heavy it is, what it is made of, or its surface texture. Haptic technologies try to solve this problem. An artefact’s surface properties can be modelled so that someone using a haptic device can feel it as a solid, three-dimensional object with different textures, hardness or softness.
