Building Haptic Systems with 3C's: Communication, Collaboration, and Confirmation

Abstract

Haptic technology is essential for bringing the sense of touch to digital and virtual environments, with applications ranging from accessibility to education and entertainment. However, the development of haptic systems is hindered by the absence of a standardized, human-centered process. This fragmentation leads to redundant efforts, and challenges in translating prototypes into reliable, user-ready products. This thesis addresses this gap by systematically investigating the haptic development lifecycle and introducing the 3C Guidelines, an integrated, evidence-based approach centered on three critical actions: Communication, Collaboration, and Confirmation.

To address the challenges in Communication, this research introduces and evaluates the Feel-Play-Imagine (FPI) process. Through a co-design workshop and a qualitative study with domain experts, the FPI process facilitates the communication of haptics projects through hands-on exploration to build a shared sensory literacy, and enabling stakeholders to effectively articulate and incorporate haptic concepts into their designs.

For Collaboration, this thesis presents findings from two distinct contexts: a four-year longitudinal case study on the co-design of an interface for a sensitive, community-driven narrative, and a participatory design workshop with haptics experts. Together, these studies revealed the critical importance of building restorative justice principles that fosters trust, synchronizes diverse work rhythms, and establishes shared ethical commitments, highlighting practices that support effective and inclusive teamwork in interdisciplinary haptic projects.

Finally, to understand Confirmation, this work includes a scoping review of 464 empirical studies, which mapped current evaluation practices in haptics research. The review identified significant gaps, including a reliance on ad-hoc metrics, a lack of demographic diversity in participant samples, and insufficient transparency in documentation. In response, this chapter provides a set of evidence-based recommendations to guide researchers toward more rigorous and reproducible evaluation methods.

By synthesizing the findings from these three investigations, this dissertation contributes a practical and actionable guideline designed to assist both novice and experienced practitioners in developing haptic systems more effectively. The 3C Guidelines provides structured yet flexible lens to improve how teams communicate, collaborate, and confirm their work, ultimately aiming to raise the quality, impact, and reproducibility of future haptic systems.