Paper presentation: “Dual-Modal Haptic Interaction in VR to Support Window Purchasing Decisions”

Online product evaluation is constrained by the inability to physically interact with items before purchase. This is a limitation for products whose value depends on tactile properties that cannot be conveyed through images or specifications, and for which budgetary or spatial constraints limit the number of physical samples that can be offered to clients for evaluation. Building products, such as windows, are a strong example in which purchase decisions often hinge on physical characteristics that affect daily comfort and energy costs, like sliding ease and thermal insulation. Virtual Reality (VR) and haptic feedback offer potential solutions by enabling users to perceive visual and physical product characteristics. We present Hapti-Window, a dual-modality haptic system for evaluating sliding windows in VR. It combines force feedback to simulate resistance of sliding mechanisms with thermal feedback to convey differences in insulation quality. A study with 159 participants shows that VR significantly enhances presence compared to video. Haptic feedback further enhances presence and redirects visual attention in a modality-specific manner while improving perceived evaluation ability in a modality-general manner. Notably, the results suggest that haptic augmentation of conventional product media can meaningfully support consumer evaluation even without full immersive VR. These findings demonstrate that even relatively simple haptic implementations can enhance user experience across both VR and video-based product visualization, with implications for the design of immersive e-commerce systems.