Obstacle detection display for visually impaired Coding of direction distance and height on a vibrotactile waist band

Electronic travel aids (ETAs) can potentially increase the safety and comfort of blind users by detecting and displaying obstacles outside the range of the white cane. In a series of experiments, we aim to balance the amount of information displayed and the comprehensibility of the information taking into account the risk of information overload...

Tactile roughness perception in the presence of olfactory and trigeminal stimulants

Previous research has shown that odorants consistently evoke associations with textures and their tactile properties like smoothness and roughness. Also, it has been observed that olfaction can modulate tactile perception. We therefore hypothesized that tactile roughness perception may be biased towards the somatosensory connotation of an...

Direction coding using a tactile chair

This laboratory study examined the possibility of using a car seat instrumented with tactile display elements (tactors) to communicate directional information to a driver. A car seat fitted with an 8 by 8 matrix of tactors embedded in the seat pan was used to code eight different directions.Localization performance (speed and accuracy) was...

More than a feeling: Bringing touch into astronauts' spatial orientation

Data show that spatial orientation in microgravity differs from that on Earth possibly facilitating space motion sickness and degrading performance. As a technology demonstration, we developed a Tactile Orientation Awareness Support Tool (TOAST) consisting of a vest with 56 vibrators. TOAST presents an artificial gravity vector by a localised...

Tactile cueing effects on performance in simulated aerial combat with high acceleration

Introduction: Recent evidence indicates that vibrotactile displays can potentially reduce the risk of sensory and cognitive overload. Before these displays can be introduced in super agile aircraft, it must be ascertained that vibratory stimuli can be sensed and interpreted by pilots subjected to high G loads. Methods: Each of 9 pilots...

Deriving the optimal modality combination for mobile search in multimedia databases

The European MIAMM-project (Multidimensional Information Access using Multiple Modalities) develops new concepts and techniques for multimodal dialogs that allow for fast and natural mobile access to multimedia databases. In an experiment we investigated different modality combinations (haptic-tactile, non-speech audio and a redundant...

Multi-finger haptic interaction within the MIAMM project

In this paper we provide a brief introduction to MIAMM - a multimodal system for exploration of music databases. Among the modalities supported, haptics plays a central role. In particula1; multi-finger haptic interaction techniques for data shaping and exploration win be investigated. We explain our chosen methodology for designing these...

Effects of speech versus tactile driver support messages on driving behaviour and workload

In a driving simulator experiment, effects were tested of an integrated support system on driving behaviour, user acceptance and workload. An alternative workload measure was used based upon peripheral vision. Two modes of support (tactile and speech messages) were compared to a control condition without support. Subjects were confronted with...