Human emotional response to steering wheel vibration in automobiles

This is the post-print (final draft post-refereeing) version of the final published paper that is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.This study investigates what form of correlation may exist between measures of the valence and the arousal dimensions of the human emotional response to steering wheel vibration and the vibration intensity metrics obtained by means of the unweighted and the frequency weighted root mean square (rms). A laboratory experiment was performed with 30 participants who were presented 17 acceleration time histories in random order and asked to rate their emotional feelings of valence and arousal using a self-assessment manikin (SAM) scale. The results suggest a highly linear correlation between the unweighted, Wh weighted and Ws weighted vibration intensity metrics and the arousal measures of the human emotional response. The results also suggest that while vibration intensity plays a significant role in eliciting emotional feelings, there are other factors which influence the human emotional response to steering wheel vibration such as the presence of high peaks or high frequency band amplitudes

Assisting Navigation and Object Selection with Vibrotactile Cues

Our lives have been drastically altered by information technology in the last decades, leading to evolutionary mismatches between human traits and the modern environment. One particular mismatch occurs when visually demanding information technology overloads the perceptual, cognitive or motor capabilities of the human nervous system. This information overload could be partly alleviated by complementing visual interaction with haptics. The primary aim of this thesis was to investigate how to assist movement control with vibrotactile cues. Vibrotactile cues refer to technologymediated vibrotactile signals that notify users of perceptual events, propose users to make decisions, and give users feedback from actions. To explore vibrotactile cues, we carried out five experiments in two contexts of movement control: navigation and object selection. The goal was to find ways to reduce information load in these tasks, thus helping users to accomplish the tasks more effectively. We employed measurements such as reaction times, error rates, and task completion times. We also used subjective rating scales, short interviews, and free-form participant comments to assess the vibrotactile assisted interactive systems. The findings of this thesis can be summarized as follows. First, if the context of movement control allows the use of both feedback and feedforward cues, feedback cues are a reasonable first option. Second, when using vibrotactile feedforward cues, using low-level abstractions and supporting the interaction with other modalities can keep the information load as low as possible. Third, the temple area is a feasible actuation location for vibrotactile cues in movement control, including navigation cues and object selection cues with head turns. However, the usability of the area depends on contextual factors such as spatial congruency, the actuation device, and the pace of the interaction task

Neuromorphic vibrotactile stimulation of fingertips for encoding object stiffness in telepresence sensory substitution and augmentation applications

We present a tactile telepresence system for real-time transmission of information about object stiffness to the human fingertips. Experimental tests were performed across two laboratories (Italy and Ireland). In the Italian laboratory, a mechatronic sensing platform indented different rubber samples. Information about rubber stiffness was converted into on-off events using a neuronal spiking model and sent to a vibrotactile glove in the Irish laboratory. Participants discriminated the variation of the stiffness of stimuli according to a two-alternative forced choice protocol. Stiffness discrimination was based on the variation of the temporal pattern of spikes generated during the indentation of the rubber samples. The results suggest that vibrotactile stimulation can effectively simulate surface stiffness when using neuronal spiking models to trigger vibrations in the haptic interface. Specifically, fractional variations of stiffness down to 0.67 were significantly discriminated with the developed neuromorphic haptic interface. This is a performance comparable, though slightly worse, to the threshold obtained in a benchmark experiment evaluating the same set of stimuli naturally with the own hand. Our paper presents a bioinspired method for delivering sensory feedback about object properties to human skin based on contingency-mimetic neuronal models, and can be useful for the design of high performance haptic devices

The Value of Tactile Sound In Music Perception: Exploring Haptic Music and its Influence on UX with a Multisensory Art Installation

Low-frequency vibrations (LFV) have been utilized in music throughout the ages. Usually, sensing sound and music is understood in the form of hearing. However, music can be experienced both as heard and felt. The tactile sensation of music manifests itself especially with bass frequencies. Nonetheless, the valuation of the tactile form of sound and its role in the whole user experience (UX) is not well assessed. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to explore tactile bass with a multisensory art installation and find out whether users find the tactile sensation of the music valuable, and if it adds liking of the installation. A multisensory art setup was created, where visual material was running on a big screen, audio material was outputted via small bluethooth speaker, and the vibrotactile material was derived with a subwoofer. The different sense perceptions formed together a multisensory sensation, where the audio material was produced to be perceptible also in vibrotactile form. The different soundscapes were compared in auditory and vibrotactile versions, also a no audio version was taken into account. The participants’ opinions and liking were queried with semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed the value of vibrotactile sound. Participants preferred the vibrotactile versions of the soundscapes, however the no audio soundscape gained also meaningful valuation. This research could contribute to the culture field by determining the value of tactually perceived sound [low frequency vibrations] that influence on the UX in sound related installations in culture context

A calming hug:Design and validation of a tactile aid to ease anxiety

Anxiety disorders affect approximately one third of people during their lifetimes and are the ninth leading cause of global disability. Current treatments focus on therapy and pharmacological interventions. However, therapy is costly and pharmacological interventions often have undesirable side-effects. Healthy people also regularly suffer periods of anxiety. Therefore, a non-pharmacological, intuitive, home intervention would be complementary to other treatments and beneficial for non-clinical groups. Existing at-home anxiety aids, such as guided meditations, typically employ visual and/or audio stimuli to guide the user into a calmer state. However, the tactile sense has the potential to be a more natural modality to target in an anxiety-calming device. The tactile domain is relatively under-explored, but we suggest that there are manifold physiological and affective qualities of touch that lend it to the task. In this study we demonstrate that haptic technology can offer an enjoyable, effective and widely accessible alternative for easing state anxiety. We describe a novel huggable haptic interface that pneumatically simulates slow breathing. We discuss the development of this interface through a focus group evaluating five prototypes with embedded behaviours (‘breathing’, ‘purring’, ‘heartbeat’ and ‘illumination’). Ratings indicated that the ‘breathing’ prototype was most pleasant to interact with and participants described this prototype as ‘calming’ and ‘soothing’, reminding them of a person breathing. This prototype was developed into an ergonomic huggable cushion containing a pneumatic chamber powered by an external pump allowing the cushion to ‘breathe’. A mixed-design experiment (n = 129) inducing anxiety through a group mathematics test found that the device was effective at reducing pre-test anxiety compared to a control (no intervention) condition and that this reduction in anxiety was indistinguishable from that of a guided meditation. Our findings highlight the efficacy of this interface, demonstrating that haptic technologies can be effective at easing anxiety. We suggest that the field should be explored in more depth to capture the nuances of different modalities in relation to specific situations and trait characteristics

Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc

Evaluation of a Vibrotactile Device For Outdoor and Public Transport Pedestrian Navigation Using Virtual Reality

International audienceIt can be difficult to find your way in public transport, especially when the journey combines indoor and outdoor trans-portation. We designed an innovative vibrotactile device dedicated to guide a pedestrian in public transport. This multi-modal interface can be used to guide a pedestrian in unknown public transport. The device can be used by visually impaired person. The device has been tested during two main phases. The first step was to test the device using virtual reality while the second step test was to test the device in a real environment. This paper presents the first part of the evaluation of the device. We have developed a virtual reality scenario to assess the objective and subjective utility of the device. The results showed that the device could properly guide users. We also evaluated the usefulness of a warning vibration preceding a message. It was found that the vibration seems to introduce confusion to the pattern recognition by the user

A Study of the Affordance of Haptic Stimuli in a Simulated Haunted House

The present study investigates the affordance of vibrotactile signals in a simulated haunted house. Participants experienced a virtuals´eance using a head-mounted display, sound, and haptic stimuli on the palm and thighs.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe