Effect of Focus Direction and Agency on Tactile Perceptibility

Abstract

Prior research has shown that the direction of a user’s focus affects the perception of tactile cues. Additionally, user agency over touch stimulation has been shown to affect tactile perception. With the development of more complicated haptic and multi-sensory devices, simple tactile cues are rarely used in isolation and the effect of focus direction and of user agency on the perception of a sequence of tactile cues is unknown. In this study, we investigate the effect of both of these variables, focus direction and agency, on the perception of a cue sequence. We found that the direction of user focus and user sense of agency over tactile stimulation both had a significant effect on the accurate perception of a cue sequence. These results are presented in consideration for developing better haptic devices that account for users’ focus on and control over these devices.