Haptic feedback, often referred to as simply "haptics", is the use of the sense of touch in a user interface design to provide information to an end user.

When we use our hands to explore the world around us, we receive two types of feedback -- kinesthetic and tactile.

Kinesthetic feedback is the information people have about the position and movement of their bodies based on nerves in their joints and muscles (also known as proprioception). This feedback may play a role in hand-eye coordination, the use of input devices, and reaction to output devices that cause the body to move.

Tactile feedback provides the person with the sensations of heat, pressure, and texture.

These two feedbacks are critical in providing the surgeon who is training on a surgery simulator because those will provide the surgeon with close to actual feedback he or she will feel in a surgery.