Virtual environment and sensori-motor activities: haptic, audition and olfaction

Abstract

While the simplest Virtual Environment (VE) configuration considers only visual interfaces, the need for increased immer-sion drives the VE designers towards the integration of additional communication modalities. Sensori-motor systems are the components of a Virtual Reality (VR) system that contribute to generate the VEs and to create the feeling of immersion and presence, the feeling of being there. This paper quickly reviews the (1) olfactory, (2) auditory, (3) haptic sensori-motor ac-tivities and focuses on the hardware/software components that are currently available, either as commercial products or as academic prototypes.