Today I read a paper titled “Creating Usable Pin Array Tactons for Non-Visual Information”
The abstract is:
Spatial information can be difficult to present to a visually impaired computer user
In this paper we examine a new kind of tactile cueing for non-visual interaction as a potential solution, building on earlier work on vibrotactile Tactons
However, unlike vibrotactile Tactons, we use a pin array to stimulate the finger tip
Here, we describe how to design static and dynamic Tactons by defining their basic components
We then present user tests examining how easy it is to distinguish between different forms of pin array Tactons demonstrating accurate Tacton sets to represent directions
These experiments demonstrate usable patterns for static, wave and blinking pin array Tacton sets for guiding a user in one of eight directions
A study is then described that shows the benefits of structuring Tactons to convey information through multiple parameters of the signal
By using multiple independent parameters for a Tacton, this study demonstrates participants perceive more information through a single Tacton
Two applications using these Tactons are then presented: a maze exploration application and an electric circuit exploration application designed for use by and tested with visually impaired users