Mid-air haptic rendering of 2D geometric shapes with a dynamic tactile pointer

An important challenge that affects ultrasonic midair haptics, in contrast to physical touch, is that we lose certain exploratory procedures such as contour following. This makes the task of perceiving geometric properties and shape identification more difficult. Meanwhile, the growing interest in mid-air haptics and their application to various new areas requires an improved understanding of how we perceive specific haptic stimuli, such as icons and control dials in mid-air. We address this challenge by investigating static and dynamic methods of displaying 2D geometric shapes in mid-air. We display a circle, a square, and a triangle, in either a static or dynamic condition, using ultrasonic mid-air haptics. In the static condition, the shapes are presented as a full outline in mid-air, while in the dynamic condition, a tactile pointer is moved around the perimeter of the shapes. We measure participants’ accuracy and confidence of identifying shapes in two controlled experiments (n1 = 34, n2 = 25). Results reveal that in the dynamic condition people recognise shapes significantly more accurately, and with higher confidence. We also find that representing polygons as a set of individually drawn haptic strokes, with a short pause at the corners, drastically enhances shape recognition accuracy. Our research supports the design of mid-air haptic user interfaces in application scenarios such as in-car interactions or assistive technology in education

Man-machine interface issues in space telerobotics: A JPL research and development program

Technology issues related to the use of robots as man-extension or telerobot systems in space are discussed and exemplified. General considerations are presentd on control and information problems in space teleoperation and on the characteristics of Earth orbital teleoperation. The JPL R and D work in the area of man-machine interface devices and techniques for sensing and computer-based control is briefly summarized. The thrust of this R and D effort is to render space teleoperation efficient and safe through the use of devices and techniques which will permit integrated and task-level (intelligent) two-way control communication between human operator and telerobot machine in Earth orbit. Specific control and information display devices and techniques are discussed and exemplified with development results obtained at JPL in recent years

Which One is Me?: Identifying Oneself on Public Displays

While user representations are extensively used on public displays, it remains unclear how well users can recognize their own representation among those of surrounding users. We study the most widely used representations: abstract objects, skeletons, silhouettes and mirrors. In a prestudy (N=12), we identify five strategies that users follow to recognize themselves on public displays. In a second study (N=19), we quantify the users' recognition time and accuracy with respect to each representation type. Our findings suggest that there is a significant effect of (1) the representation type, (2) the strategies performed by users, and (3) the combination of both on recognition time and accuracy. We discuss the suitability of each representation for different settings and provide specific recommendations as to how user representations should be applied in multi-user scenarios. These recommendations guide practitioners and researchers in selecting the representation that optimizes the most for the deployment's requirements, and for the user strategies that are feasible in that environment

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research

Impact of haptic 'touching' technology on cultural applications

No abstract available

Do That, There: An Interaction Technique for Addressing In-Air Gesture Systems

When users want to interact with an in-air gesture system, they must first address it. This involves finding where to gesture so that their actions can be sensed, and how to direct their input towards that system so that they do not also affect others or cause unwanted effects. This is an important problem [6] which lacks a practical solution. We present an interaction technique which uses multimodal feedback to help users address in-air gesture systems. The feedback tells them how (“do that”) and where (“there”) to gesture, using light, audio and tactile displays. By doing that there, users can direct their input to the system they wish to interact with, in a place where their gestures can be sensed. We discuss the design of our technique and three experiments investigating its use, finding that users can “do that” well (93.2%–99.9%) while accurately (51mm–80mm) and quickly (3.7s) finding “there”