Haptics in Virtual Assembly Systems: Insights Into the Current State of Research

In a rapidly evolving competitive landscape, manufacturing companies are under pressure to reduce the time-to-market for their products. Technological advances, particularly in immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, or mixed reality, offer new tools to address this issue by accelerating production ramp-up. Applications for immersive technologies include product development, assembly planning, and assembly training. This paper addresses the integration of haptic feedback into virtual assembly systems. In order to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research, a systematic literature review is conducted focusing on applications, study designs, haptic devices and the effectiveness of haptic feedback. The review shows that haptic feedback can increase immersion in virtual environments and thus improve information quality. This paper highlights the potential of systems for future virtual assembly applications and emphasizes the importance of ongoing research to fully explore and exploit the capabilities.