Title: A touch screen interface design with tactile feedback for practical applications

Authors: Hiroaki Nishino; Ryotaro Goto; Yuki Fukakusa; Jiaqing Lin; Tsuneo Kagawa; Kazuyuki Yoshida; Kouichi Utsumiya; Junji Hirooka; Toshihiko Osada; Nobuhiro Nagatomo; Eiji Aoki

Addresses: Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' Department of Computer Science and Intelligent Systems, Oita University, 700 Dannoharu, Oita 870-1192, Japan ' AVOC Co., Ltd., 4-16-14 Jogasaki, Miyazaki 880-0917, Japan ' AVOC Co., Ltd., 4-16-14 Jogasaki, Miyazaki 880-0917, Japan ' AVOC Co., Ltd., 4-16-14 Jogasaki, Miyazaki 880-0917, Japan ' Institute for Hypernetwork Society, Oita Dai2 Sophia Plaza bldg. 4F, 51-6 Higashi Kasuga-machi, Oita 870-0037, Japan

Abstract: A touch screen interface becomes the most popular information display for implementing intuitive human computer interaction methods. In spite of its popularity, there are some weak points. The most serious drawback is its hardness for operation especially for elderly and blind users. A tactile feedback function has a potential ability for enabling them to make full use of the device. We consider the tactile interaction as a communication modality for complementing other channels such as visual and auditory senses and improving intuitiveness for various operations. To make the tactile interface a practical communication channel, a design guideline for implementing mutually discriminable tactile stimuli is required. In this paper, we describe the guideline by empirically defining multiple stimulus patterns giving users distinctive tactile impressions. We also elaborate experiment systems implemented by using a type of touch screen tactile display and some experiments conducted for checking varied tactile effects and discovering good solutions.

Keywords: touch panel display; tactile feedback; haptisation; graphical user interface; GUI; assistive information technology; touch screen interface; hapics; human computer interaction; HCI; elderly users; blind users.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSC.2013.051974

International Journal of Space-Based and Situated Computing, 2013 Vol.3 No.1, pp.8 - 21

Received: 13 Feb 2012
Accepted: 29 Feb 2012
Published online: 23 Aug 2014 *

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