TrueForce: A Compliant Method for Perceptually Aligned Interaction with ETHD-Simulated Virtual Objects

To enhance learning and training, VR haptic devices must provide safe and physically accurate feedback that helps users build intuitions about force and motion. We present TrueForce, a method for rendering force feedback by capturing user input and reconfiguring a compliant mechanism in real time to align perceived with expected forces. We implemented TrueForce in a grounded Encountered-Type Haptic Display (ETHD) and demonstrated its versatility through three representative physics scenarios: pushing a stationary object, experiencing electrostatic repulsion, and bouncing a moving object. A user study with 29 participants showed that users adapted to new interaction profiles within 2–3 trials, and that rendered forces remained within perceptual thresholds except in the heaviest and most dynamic conditions. These results suggest that users can rapidly adapt to the system’s force-motion mappings, providing the consistent sensorimotor feedback necessary for building physical intuitions when interacting with moving virtual objects.