Design of haptic stimuli for audio-haptic concurrent coupling

Abstract

Existing audio-haptic coupling strategies mainly enable the display of information with complementary features. For example, the rendering of spatial and local features of targets in 3D space. This paper presents the design of haptic stimuli for a new audio-haptic coupling strategy that utilizes the concurrent use of the two modal channels. This coupling strategy should assist in the intermodal comparison of values simultaneously presented on the audio and haptic channels. The proposed haptic signal includes a tempo parameter which can be shared, under some conditions, with the audio channel. This paper presents a detailed experimental study to design haptic stimuli according to the audio-haptic coupling strategy specifications. This study is presented in the context of an ongoing project concerning the exploitation of this parametric haptic signal for the comparison of values during a search task.

Audio-haptic intermodal coupling for comparative search tasks

“…To enable the comparison of intensity values conveyed by the two channels, we propose to use a common parameter and the same rendering model for both audio and haptic feedbacks (see Figure 2) [18]:…”

“…to find the most suitable configuration for the intermodal comparison. The details of these experiments can be found in [18]. We propose in the following sections the final results and the identified sensorial signals.…”

“…The previous experimental study showed that the most efficient haptic stimuli should simultaneously combine the variation of two parameters for the same perception (see [18]: 1) frequency parameter f ; and 2) tempo parameter (τ). The frequency parameter supports the continuous perception and discrimination of information, which enables the continuous haptic search of the target value.…”

Intermodal Audio-Haptic Metaphor: Improvement of Target Search in Abstract Environments

“…The use of vibrotactile feedback to explore the function was found intuitive, exploiting a natural gesture based exploration strategy. Moreover, the rendering of the function intensity with the vibrotactile mode through the frequency and tempo parameters was simple to understand, as previously observed in (Ammi & Katz, 2011). The use of the spatialized audio feedback to display registered targets involved natural audio cues which require only minimal training.…”

“…Stimuli parameter selectionThe parameterization of the audio and haptic renderings is based on two previous studies concerning perceptual sensibility to the different parameters. Details of these studies are developed in(Ammi & Katz, 2011). A brief description and summary of those results is presented here.Participants were presented with a series of either haptic or audio perceptions with a progressive increase of one selected parameter (Param: , , , ).…”