The Design and Testing of Haptically Enabled Science Simulations

• In Event: 25.077 - Science Teaching and Learning SIG Paper Session: Discipline-Specific

Abstract

Current haptic technology allows for the augmentation of computer-generated images with a simulated sense of touch. Our work integrates the Unity™ game engine and haptics to design, build, & pilot test a series of science simulations targeting buoyancy, phase change, and magnetism. Our HESSs are virtual representations of real-world systems modeled computationally, displayed visually, and augmented with haptic force-feedback that enables users to physically interact with multiple (often invisible) components of the modeled system. We take an embodied cognition perspective in our attempts to isolate and describe the influences of haptic feedback. Early evidence points to a haptic influence on students’ relation-based/mechanistic thinking about buoyancy and agility moving between visible (macroscale) and invisible (microscale) aspects of phase change.

Authors

• James Minogue, North Carolina State University

• David Borland, RENCI

• Marc Russo, North Carolina State University