Dynamic network adaptation scheme employing haptic event priority for collaborative virtual environments

In this paper, a dynamic network adaptation scheme employing haptic event priority is proposed based on stability and transparency analysis for haptic-based CVEs (collaborative virtual environments). For consistency, a client-server architecture is adopted, which includes a consistency server managing virtual object updates. Moreover, in this haptic-based CVE, position data (i.e., haptic interaction pointer and virtual object) between clients and the server is exchanged instead of force data for the stability. According to the transparency analysis, this haptic-based CVE has a maximum allowable delay bound for the transparent haptic interactions. Therefore, the proposed scheme adapts transmission rate and buffering time according to current network state within the end-to-end delay criterion. From experimental results, the network adaptation scheme of haptic events can guarantee better haptic interaction quality than the existing transport schemes over time-varying network.