Understanding stress distributions over 3D models is a highly desired feature in many scientific and engineering fields. The stress is mathematically a second-order tensor, and it is typically visualized using either color maps, tensor glyphs, or streamlines. However, neither of these methods is physically intuitive to the end user, and they become even more awkward when dealing with the volumetric tensor field over a complicated 3D shape. In this paper, we present a virtual perception system, which leverages a multi-finger haptic interface to help users intuitively perceive 3D stress fields. Our system allows the user to navigate the interior of the 3D model freely and maps the stress tensor to the haptic rendering along the direction of the finger’s trajectory. Doing so provides user a natural and straightforward understanding of the stress distribution without interacting with the parameters in the mapped visual representations. Experimental results show that our system is preferred in navigating stress fields inside an object and is applicable for different design tasks.

中文翻译：

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感受内部：用于导航对象内部压力分布的触觉界面

了解 3D 模型上的应力分布是许多科学和工程领域非常需要的功能。应力在数学上是一个二阶张量，通常使用颜色图、张量字形或流线进行可视化。然而，对于最终用户来说，这两种方法都不是物理直观的，而且在处理复杂 3D 形状上的体积张量场时，它们变得更加笨拙。在本文中，我们提出了一个虚拟感知系统，它利用多指触觉界面来帮助用户直观地感知 3D 压力场。我们的系统允许用户自由导航 3D 模型的内部，并将应力张量映射到沿手指轨迹方向的触觉渲染。这样做可以让用户自然而直接地了解应力分布，而无需与映射的视觉表示中的参数进行交互。实验结果表明，我们的系统在导航对象内部应力场方面是首选，适用于不同的设计任务。