The “up-side” and “down-side” of tactile parameters: An evaluation of increases and decreases in tactile cue magnitude to support anesthesia monitoring

Abstract

There is a need to find alternative ways to present information to alleviate data overload in the complex environment of anesthesia monitoring in the operating room. The tactile modality has been shown as a promising means in supporting this effort; however, to develop effective tactile displays, it is important to ensure that the tactile parameters convey information that is both meaningful and easy to learn. This work aimed to address this gap by evaluating how increasing and decreasing tactile parameter magnitude could map to physiological variables to support anesthesia monitoring. It was found that increases in magnitude for the intensity and temporal parameters mapped to urgent changes in physiological variables whereas decreases in magnitude for these parameters mapped to less urgent changes (e.g., a physiological variable is normalizing). This work provides preliminary support towards a better understanding of which tactile parameters should be used to represent information in the operating room to support anesthesia monitoring. Furthermore, it demonstrates how increases and decreases in tactile parameters can be interpreted differently, emphasizing the importance of carefully considering how to utilize changes in tactile parameters to convey information in complex domains.