Master's Dissertation
Designing Tactile Vocabularies for Human-Computer Interaction
Author: OLIVEIRA, V. A. de J. Advisor: MACIEL, A.
Abstract: This thesis presents a study about tactile languages in human-computer interaction and a novel approach for vibrotactile prefixation. We intended to analyse how the choices made during the design process of tactile vocabularies would affect the user performance on an interactive task. Therefore, we have designed and tested different sets of tactile signals for aid navigation in virtual environments. It leaded us to fashion the concept of Modifier Tactile Pattern for vibrotactile communication which was tested through user experiments. In the assessment of the modifier-based vocabularies we attempted to effects of multisensory stimulation, factors related to the processing of tactile sequences and masking caused by multiple stimuli delivered in a same time. Results show that those participants who used modifier-based vocabularies performed better the navigation task. That and others results related to perception, learning and interpretation of our tactile vocabularies show the validity of the use of modifiers on tactile languages. The statements made from this work will be useful for designing usable tactile interfaces that demand expressive vocabularies.
Keywords: Haptic Interaction, Vibrotactile Communication, Virtual Reality, Navigation.
Supplemental Material
Slides made for presentation of the Master's Dissertation. Some contents are dynamically presented for a better understanding.
A review of state-of-the-art applications and important factors on tactile interaction. The document also presents our first setup.
A page with the complete list of published articles. The list contains papers with the results of the Master's research and others.