A VRPN server for haptic devices using OpenHaptics 3.0

This paper presents an implementation based on the Virtual Reality Peripheral Network (VRPN 7.18) to handle connectivity between Virtual Reality (VR) applications and SensAble Technology Phantom Haptic Devices using the OpenHaptics 3.0 Haptic Library Application Programmable Interface (HLAPI). VRPN offers a client-server based architecture to support network transparent connectivity between VR applications and a set of physical interaction devices. VRPN suggests a set of classes to handle various physical devices types. Originally, the haptic rendering was supported by the obsolete GHOST API, provided by SensAble Technologies, within a specific VRPN class dedicated to Phantom devices. The proposed implementation consists of a) new classes that support haptic device server and VR applications connectivity, allow to specify arbitrary 3D object information to haptically render geometries and report applied force, angle at contact point, Surface Contact Point (SCP) and Depth of Penetration (DOP); and b) an upgrade of the Phantom dedicated VRPN class to handle haptic rendering using OpenHaptics HLAPI functionalities to manage device state and forces calculation. Moreover, the integration of the HLAPI implementation in VRPN remains respectful to VRPN inheritance and architecture standards: Tracker and Button classes remain unchanged.