ThermalPen: Investigating the Influence of Thermal Haptic Feedback for Creativity in 3D Sketching

Date：June 2024

Teams:Technische Universität Darmstadt；TU Darmstadt

Writers:Philipp Pascal Hoffmann, Rina R. Wehbe, Max Mühlhäuser, and Mayra Donaji Barrera Machuca

PDF:ThermalPen: Investigating the Influence of Thermal Haptic Feedback for Creativity in 3D Sketching

Abstract

This paper presents ThermalPen, a novel device for 3D sketching that utilizes thermal feedback to allow users to feel the materiality of their sketches. The pen lets users draw using six colors and three textures mapped to different temperatures. Our goal is to investigate the influence of thermal feedback on user creativity for 3D sketching. In a user study with 24 participants, we asked them to draw with and without thermal feedback. Our results show that thermal feedback improved user creativity for specific tasks. Qualitative results also indicate an effect on the user experience. Our work contributes to understanding how thermal feedback can increase user satisfaction with 3D sketching and provide insights and directions for future work.