The Effect of Vibrotactile Stimulation on the Emotional Response to Horror Films

Abstract

Over the last decade consumers have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of low fidelity, discrete vibrotactile feedback to enhance or replace audio stimuli in entertainment systems. However, use of highresolution continuous vibrotactile displays remains quite uncommon. The Emoti-Chair is a high-resolution continuous vibrotactile display that may be driven by any type of audio signal, and is purported to convey the emotional properties of sound through organized vibrotactile stimulation. In the current study, we examined the ability of the Emoti-Chair to convey the emotional content of the soundtrack in a horror film. Increases in skin conductance levels were observed when vibrotactile stimuli were added to audio/visual film content. These results provide evidence that users can augment the communication of emotion in film through use of a high-resolution continuous vibrotactile display.

Musicians Show Better Auditory and Tactile Identification of Emotions in Music

“…They also observed that not only the intensity of vibration but also the frequency of the vibrotacile stimuli was playing a role in the observed reactions. The present study results are consistent with Branje et al (2013) and further support the hypothesis that both controls and musicians are able to extract meaningful information from the frequency characteristics of a signal presented through vibrations only. Furthermore, for the emotion of peacefulness, results revealed a significant difference between musicians and controls for tactile stimulation.…”

“…No study to date has investigated purely tactile identification of emotion in music. The only existing study along these lines was performed by Branje et al (2013) and suggests that multisensory stimulation can increase emotion perception in film. By using the Emoti-Chair, a device that induces vibration in the back of normal-hearing participants, they found increases in skin conductance levels when vibrotactile stimuli were added to audio/visual film content.…”

Feeling the music: The feel and sound of songs attenuate pain

“…Firstly, the findings suggest that synchronous tactile stimulation can enhance the affective content in music. This interpretation is consistent with findings from Branje et al 12 who found that the addition of tactile stimulation to music induced stronger emotional responses in film music (see also 13 ). Secondly, the tactile stimulation can enhance the music experience by inducing a greater sense of arousal (deeper experience), which was a finding also present in Branje et al 12 Thus, in the liked song with auditory-tactile stimulation, listeners may better experience pleasant emotions associated with their preferred song.…”

“… 11 Lastly since listeners can feel the low-frequency vibrations associated with the music’s acoustic energy emitted by speakers (for example) on their skin, tactile stimulation is often used in affective computing to enhance emotions elicited by music. 12 , 13 Here we investigated whether combining auditory and tactile (touch) stimulation by music can enhance pain attenuation.…”

Emotion Elicitation through Vibrotactile Stimulation as an Alternative for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People: An EEG Study

“…In music, although there have been numerous studies testing different stimuli and vibrotactile devices, in the world of cinema, this type of research is less abundant. By testing the joint experience of watching horror films and receiving vibrotactile stimulation through a high-resolution continuous vibrotactile display, evidence of emotion augmentation was found [17], although it was based on the subjective emotional response of the participants compiled through a self-reported survey. Moreover, vibrotactile stimulation, generated by a haptic glove prototype, has shown a potential to enhance mood, as different combinations of intensity and frequency seem to elicit different moods [18].…”