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Since 1991, the CITI, Center for Information Technology
Innovation, is investigating adaptive graphical user
interfaces with force feedback.
The pantograph is a force feedback
pointing device intended for direct manipulation
in a human computer interaction.
The mechanical structure is based on a five part linkage
that guarantees stability, little friction,
and provides a comfortable 10 by 16 centimeters workspace.
Two powerful motors allow numerical control
over the manipulated knob that's giving the user a sensation
of touch of a physical nature.
Force feedback is an emerging concept
in human computer interaction aimed
at enhancing or translating graphical information
with touchable information.
Such interfaces are especially relevant
not only for visually handicapped persons
or for astronauts working in space without gravity, but also
for sighted users.
Some ergonomical experiments have
shown that introducing force feedback in addition
to vision or addition improves substantially
performance and comfort.
On the other hand, force feedback technologies
offer a new performance support system paradigm.
Since a force feedback device is used as the pointing device,
it allows the system to physically guide
the user's hand from one location to another.
The goal of our research is to facilitate the use and training
of direct manipulation interfaces
using a force feedback device as a physical assistant.
In order to design the physical assistant,
a Wizard of Oz technique was investigated.
The user is now manipulating the force feedback device
as a mouse.
He points, selects, drags, and resizes.
Since the behavior of the pantograph is programmable,
the pantograph can take part of the control
to achieve some task.
And the user will feel a real time determined
force guiding his hand.
The Wizard of Oz technique is an experimental mechanism
that allows the observation of users interacting
with the system having apparently
all its functionalities.
With the Wizard of Oz technique, it's
a hidden operator that controls the pantograph
through a simple mouse.
The hidden operator is watching the user
and takes over as soon as some help is apparently needed.
Actually, the Wizard of Oz allows
to easily simulate a service and also to design the service
itself and then to automate it.
Artificial neural networks were designed
to replace progressively the wizard's reactions.
Firstly, artificial neural networks
have to learn and memorize user's behaviors.
At this stage, the user doesn't feel any force.
Then progressively, the user senses
a change in the interface.
The haptic feedback steers the pantograph,
attempting to physically guide the user's hand
towards spatially defined objects.
Therefore, adaptive user interfaces with force feedback
provide designers with the powerful new assistance
metaphor since it's based on a natural way of training.