Haptic Interaction with Guitar and Bass Virtual Strings

A multimodal simulation of instrumental virtual strings is proposed. The system presents two different scenes under the Unity3D software, respectively representing guitar and bass strings. Physical interaction is enabled by a Sensable Technologies Phantom TM Omni, a portable haptic device with six degrees of freedom. Thanks to this device, credible physically-modeled haptic cues are returned by the virtual strings. Audio and visual feedback are dealt with by the system, too. Participants in a pilot user test appreciated the simulation especially concerning the haptic component.