Abstract
The sense of touch is uniquely well-suited for displaying certain types of information, such as navigation instructions and some high-level messaging. As part of a line of research in developing a vibrotactile communication system to support person-to-person tactile messaging over a network, the present study examines the effectiveness and efficiency of three types of vibrotactile signal presentations for communicating spatial patterns. Participants identified spatial patterns presented statically (one or multiple locations vibrating at once), via non-overlapping dynamic sequences of presentations, and via saltatory presentations which induced the “apparent motion” tactile illusion. Signal complexity and presentation duration were also varied. The results suggest that both response time and accuracy are strongly dependent on the presentation method utilized, with static and saltatory presentations outperforming dynamic presentations. With more complex signals, the relative benefit of saltatory presentations appears to increase. These results have implications for the design of tactile display signals of varying degrees of complexity, and will inform the continued development of the vibrotactile communication system.
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