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Abstract
This paper outlines a study into the effects of co-location (the term 'co-location' is used throughout to refer to the co-location of haptic and visual sensory modes, except where otherwise specified) of haptic and visual sensory modes in VR simulations. The study hypothesis is that co-location of these sensory modes will lead to improved task performance within a VR environment. Technical challenges and technological limitations are outlined prior to a description of the implementation adopted for this study. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect on user performance of co-located haptics (force feedback) in a 3D virtual environment. Results show that co-location is an important factor, and when coupled with haptic feedback the performance of the user is greatly improved. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]