Passive haptic learning of Braille typing

Abstract

Passive Haptic Learning (PHL) is the acquisition of sensorimotor skills without active attention to learning. One method is to "teach" motor skills using vibration cues delivered by a wearable, tactile interface while the user is focusing on another, primary task. We have created a system for Passive Haptic Learning of typing skills. In a study containing 16 participants, users demonstrated significantly reduced error typing a phrase in Braille after receiving passive instruction versus control (32.85% average decline in error vs. 2.73% increase in error). PHL users were also able to recognize and read more Braille letters from the phrase (72.5% vs. 22.4%). In a second study, containing 8 participants thus far, we passively teach the full Braille alphabet over four sessions. Typing error reductions in participants receiving PHL were more rapid and consistent, with 75% of PHL vs. 0% of control users reaching zero typing error. By the end of the study, PHL participants were also able to recognize and read 93.3% of all Braille alphabet letters. These results suggest that Passive Haptic instruction facilitated by wearable computers may be a feasible method of teaching Braille typing and reading.

Tactile taps teach rhythmic text entry

“…Next the participants perform the distraction task, an online game called Fitz, for 20 minutes. This scored primary task was selected based upon its sensitivity as a metric for distraction and has been used in prior PHL research to gauge a user's ability to focus even while receiving passive stimulation [16]. During this time, participants are told to focus exclusively on the game and achieving a high score and not to pay attention to any stimuli from Glass.…”

“…Tactile stimuli can help users learn without devoting active attention through a process called Passive Haptic Learning (PHL) [5,6,8,16,17]. This technique is made possible by wearable computers, which apply the instructional tactile stimuli.…”

“…This technique is made possible by wearable computers, which apply the instructional tactile stimuli. Research on teaching Braille and piano using PHL has revealed that sequences of keys can be taught with this technique [16,17]; however, it remains unproven as to whether information on rhythm can be conveyed passively.…”

“…Request permissions from Permissions@acm.org. ISWC ' 16 Here we use Morse code, a text entry system based upon rhythm, to answer this and other questions about PHL. In addition, previous studies required custom-designed, haptic gloves focusing on stimulation of the fingers: here we use a pre-existing device (Google Glass) to deliver the stimuli to the side of the head.…”

“…Passive Haptic Learning uses tactile stimuli to instruct users as they go about their daily activities (passive learning). Previous experiments on Passive Haptic Learning have shown that manual skills such as piano playing and chorded typing can be learned or reinforced using vibration stimuli even while the user is engaged in other tasks [5,6,8,16,17]. In these studies, users wear gloves with vibrating motors at the base of each finger.…”