Evaluating haptics for information discovery while walking

  • Authors:
  • Simon Robinson;Parisa Eslambolchilar;Matt Jones

  • Affiliations:
  • Swansea University, Swansea, UK;Swansea University, Swansea, UK;Swansea University, Swansea, UK

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 23rd British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Celebrating People and Technology
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

In this article we describe and evaluate a novel, low interaction cost approach to supporting the spontaneous discovery of geo-tagged information while on the move. Our mobile haptic prototype helps users to explore their environment by providing directional vibrotactile feedback based on the presence of location data. We conducted a study to investigate whether users can find these targets while walking, comparing their performance when using only haptic feedback to that when using an equivalent visual system. The results are encouraging, and here we present our findings, discussing their significance and issues relevant to the design of future systems that combine haptics with location awareness.