Physical Surfaces Make Touch Interactions in Virtual Reality Precise, Efficient, and Bimanual

Jul 16, 2026

Virtual reality (VR) systems support convenient hand-based interactions, yet mid-air gestures lack tactile feedback and a physical reference surface for haptic grounding. This work studies how different hand-grounded haptic feedback types affect precision-demanding VR touch tasks, including selecting, tracing, and sketching. Three conditions are compared: no haptic feedback (visual only), vibrotactile/pressure tactile feedback, and interaction with a portable physical surface. Results show portable physical surfaces deliver the best selection precision, tracing efficiency, and sketch quality, and increase bimanual hand use via improved confidence and control.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

Introduction

Background and motivation

Related haptic feedback and grounded surfaces

Portable surfaces and study focus

Study focus and evaluated conditions

arXiv :2607 .02430v 1 [ cs .HC] 2 Jul 2026 Physical Surfaces Make Touch Interactions in Virtual Reality Precise, Efficient, and Bimanual Wen Ying∗, Seongkook Heo University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22903, Virginia, USA Project page: [https:](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[//](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[wy-blacksheep.github.io](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[/](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[projects](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[/](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[physical-surface](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/)[/](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/projects/physical-surface/) Abstract Virtual reality (VR) systems can enable convenient hand-based interactions across diverse work scenarios. However, mid-air gestures lack tactile feedback and a physical reference surface to support the hand. This absence of haptic grounding can cause significant challenges in achieving precise and efficient touch interactions. This paper investigates the effect of different types of hand-grounded haptic feedback on the touch performance of VR tasks that demand high precision, such as selecting, tracing, and sketching. We compared three levels of haptic feedback: 1) No Haptic Feedback, where only visual feedback was provided; 2) Tactile Feedback, where users received vibrotactile and pressure feedback upon touching a virtual surface; 3) Physical Surface, where users interacted with a portable and tangible surface. Our study found that portable physical surfaces enabled the best selection precision, tracing efficiency, and sketch quality. Furthermore, participants showed increased bimanual hand utilization when engaging with a physical surface during tasks. These observed behaviors corresponded to participants’ preference for interacting with physical surfaces, attributed to a better sense of confidence and control. Keywords: Touch interaction, Portable physical surfaces, Haptic feedback, Virtual reality 1. INTRODUCTION With the development of portable consumer virtual reality (VR) devices, such as Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3, VRis now used for work and entertainment in diverse environments ranging from home and office settings [1] to public spaces such as restaurants [2] and transportation [3, 4] . As VR devices allow users to utilize the expansive virtual space in diverse environments, efforts have been made to enhance the potential of VR for professional work by integrating high-performance input devices like keyboards and mice. However, the lack of a surface to place these devices or the burden of carrying them can limit their usability [5] . Without such input devices, users often rely on mid-air hand interactions. Both commercial VR headsets and academic research have popularized the use of bare hands for frequent surface-based interactions in VR, such as menu interaction and window manipulation [6, 7, 8] . While this approach offers benefits such as availability, intuitiveness, convenience, and versatility [9], the lack of haptic feedback in mid-air gestures can pose challenges for precisiondependent interactions [10, 11, 12] . Researchers have developed various haptic feedback techniques to improve mid-air hand interactions and investigate their effects on interaction performance. One of the popular ∗ Corresponding author. Email addresses: [wenying@virginia.edu](wenying@virginia.edu) (Wen Ying), [seongkook@virginia.edu](seongkook@virginia.edu) (Seongkook Heo) URL: [https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/](https://wy-blacksheep.github.io/) (Wen Ying), [https://seongkookheo.com/](https://seongkookheo.com/) (Seongkook Heo) Figure 1: This study investigates the effects of visual feedback, tactile feedback, and physical surfaces on precise touch interactions for selecting, tracing, and sketching in VR. appr

FAQs

What problem does the paper address in VR hand interactions?

Mid-air gestures lack tactile feedback and haptic grounding, making precise touch interactions difficult to perform efficiently in VR.

What haptic feedback conditions are compared in the study?

The study compares three levels: no haptic feedback (visual only), tactile feedback using vibrotactile and pressure signals, and interaction with a portable physical surface.

What were the main findings regarding portable physical surfaces?

Portable physical surfaces achieved the best selection precision, tracing efficiency, and sketch quality, and also increased bimanual hand utilization due to stronger confidence and perceived control.

Jul 16, 2026

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