Impact of immersion and interaction modalities on wrist-worn haptics

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) interactions often require users to interact with both real tools and virtual, computer-generated entities. Wrist-worn haptics provide a practical solution for enabling such interactions while preserving the artificial sense of touch. While prior work has demonstrated the feasibility of wrist-based haptic rendering, the impact of immersive, game-like environments on haptic perception remains unclear. In this study, we investigated how virtual immersion and interaction modality influence haptic perception on the wrist. Participants performed a stiffness discrimination task in two VR environments, a conventional experimental interface and an immersive spaceship interface, using poking and grasping interactions with vibrotactile feedback. Our results showed no significant differences in perceptual accuracy or sensitivity across environments. However, the spaceship interface increased perceived pleasantness at the cost of higher task difficulty. Interaction modality also influenced behavior and preferences, with participants favoring the experimental interface during poking and the spaceship interface during grasping. These findings highlight the importance of aligning interaction modality with virtual context in haptic system design.