SIE 515 Touch and Haptics Class 19

Today’s Schedule Touch as a spatial sense Three subsystems: Cutaneous, kinesthetic, and haptic Tactile acuity differs across the body surface Exploratory procedures with touch Interface design and touch Types of haptic displays: Force feedback, cutaneous, and vibrotactile

Touch and Other Spatial Senses Similarities and differences of audition, touch and vision. No localized sense organ, receptors distributed across body surface Front-back disparity Three subsystems of touch: cutaneous, kinesthetic, and haptic

Cutaneous System Contains three types of sensory receptors: Thermoreceptors: Temperature sensing Mechanoreceptors: Pressure sensing Nociceptors: Pain sensing Mechanoreceptors most relevant to HCI and touch-based interfaces Two primary types of mechanoreceptors

Sensory Homunculus http://nobaproject.com/modules/touch-and-pain http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders http://nobaproject.com/modules/touch-and-pain

Tactile two point acuities across the body Source: Wolfe et al., 2008

Kinesthetic System Receives input from receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints Three types of receptors: Fast adapting receptors Slowly adapting receptors Positional receptors

Haptic System Haptics based on combined inputs from cutaneous and kinesthetic systems Haptics = active touch Haptic perception: Based on material properties Different from visual properties Haptic space perception

Exploratory procedures Source: Wolfe et al., 2008

Vertical Horizontal Illusion

Interface Design and Touch Often used as part of another interface (secondary) Most obvious is tactile feedback from input devices Common feature: Feel, pressure, travel Common interfaces: Keyboard, mouse, steering wheel, etc.

Touch as a Primary Interface Often have no physical interaction with objects in computer-based systems Source: http://www.post-gazette.com

Three Types of Haptic Displays Why are touch interfaces not more common? As a primary interface: Force-feedback devices Cutaneous devices Vibro-tactile devices

Phantom force feedback haptic device

Cutaneous Device

Touchscreen-based vibro-tactile interface Vibrotactile array Optacon Touchscreen-based vibro-tactile interface

For Next Class Assignment 17: Designing a New Smart Device Task 1: Smart devices (phones, tablets, and watches) are fast becoming the hub for multiple input-output technologies and embedded sensors supporting myriad tasks of daily life. Come up with two novel uses of smart devices to perform useful tasks or solve common problems. Task 2: Describe the new technology, if any, that would need to be integrated to support these tasks. Creatively capitalize on the increasingly sensor rich nature for input/output in these devices. Describe how your two tasks are supported by the technology, interface design, and the intended user group. Task 3: Post by 11:59PM on 4/6/16, and be prepared to comment on your fellow student’s ideas.