Benefits of using haptic devices in textile architecture

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce the use of haptic technologies in the design of tensile membranes structures. In the last years, haptic devices have become very popular and have been used in many applied fields as product design, medicine, architecture or art between others. By means of haptic devices, the user can interact with virtual objects via the sense of touch. The benefits of using haptics in the design of tensile membrane structures are explained in this paper. Using this technology, the designer can easily define complex equilibrium shapes and try different design alternatives in a very short time. An application has been developed to test the benefits of using haptics in textile architecture.