ABSTRACT
The sense of touch is a fundamental part of social interaction as even a short touch from another person can elicit emotional experiences. Previous studies on haptic communication indicate that the benefits of interpersonal touch exist even when touch is artificially mediated between people that are physically apart. In the current study an evaluation of three input gestures (i.e., moving, squeezing, and stroking) was conducted to identify preferred methods for creating haptic messages using a hand-held device. Furthermore, two output methods (i.e., one or four haptic actuators) were investigated in order to determine whether representing spatial properties of input gestures haptically provides additional benefit for communication. Participants created haptic messages in four example communication scenarios. The results of subjective ratings, postexperimental interviews, and observations showed that squeezing and stroking were the preferred ways to interact with the device. Squeezing was an unobtrusive and quick way to create haptic content. Stroking, on the other hand, enabled crafting of more detailed haptic messages. Spatial haptic output was appreciated especially when using the stroking method. These findings can help in designing haptic communication methods for hand-held devices.
ABSTRACT
Three novel interaction methods were designed for reading six-dot Braille characters from the touchscreen of a mobile device. A prototype device with a piezoelectric actuator embedded under the touchscreen was used to create tactile feedback. The three interaction methods, scan, sweep, and rhythm, enabled users to read Braille characters one at a time either by exploring the characters dot by dot or by sensing a rhythmic pattern presented on the screen. The methods were tested with five blind Braille readers as a proof of concept. The results of the first experiment showed that all three methods can be used to convey information as the participants could accurately (91-97 percent) recognize individual characters. In the second experiment the presentation rate of the most efficient and preferred method, the rhythm, was varied. A mean recognition accuracy of 70 percent was found when the speed of presenting a single character was nearly doubled from the first experiment. The results showed that temporal tactile feedback and Braille coding can be used to transmit single-character information while further studies are still needed to evaluate the presentation of serial information, i.e., multiple Braille characters.
