Abstract
Vibrotactile displays can substitute for sensory channels of individuals experiencing temporary or permanent impairments in balance, vision, or hearing, and can enhance the user experience in professional or entertainment situations. This massive range of potential uses necessitates primary research on human vibrotactile perception. One leading aspect to consider when developing such displays is how to develop haptic patterns or symbols to represent a concept. In most settings, individual patterns are sorted as alphabets of haptic symbols which formulate tactons. Tactons are structured and perceivable tactile patterns (i.e., messages) that transfer information to users by employing the sense of touch. Hence, haptic patterns are critical when designing vibrotactile displays, as they not only affect the rate of information transfer but also determine the design of the displays (e.g., the number and the placement of tactors engaged) and how the information is encoded to achieve separability. Due to this significance, this paper presents an overview study on the cutaneous perception parameters (i.e., intensity, loci, frequency, duration, illusions, and combinations of these) for designing haptic symbols to identify mutual best-practices and knowledge gaps for future work. The study also provides developers from different scientific backgrounds with access to complex notions when engaging this specialized topic (i.e., the use of cutaneous perception parameters towards information transfer). Finally, it offers recommendations on defining which parameters to engage for a specific task or pattern.
Highlights
The word haptics refers to the sensing of external environments using touch
The growth of wearable technologies and relevant technological advances, in image processing, natural language translation, microelectromechanical devices, automatic speech processing and recognition, and approaches to training and learning of novel haptic devices have created renewed interest in engaging touch as a channel of communication, to relieve or substitute the overloaded or absent visual and auditory modalities. The goal of such efforts, unlike the conventional vibration signals presently employed as notifications in various devices, is to determine how to develop wearable tactual displays that transfer sufficient information relating to environmental perception by engaging haptic patterns or symbols [14]
The design of tactile alphabets must be founded on conceptual frameworks which stipulate the stimulus dimensions that are separated and learnable, and how they can be optimally combined
Summary
The word haptics refers to the sensing of external environments using touch (i.e., the experience of touch sensations from external forces, motions, rumbles, or vibrations when we handle, wear, or operate on objects). The growth of wearable technologies (i.e., wearable haptic devices) and relevant technological advances, in image processing, natural language translation, microelectromechanical devices, automatic speech processing and recognition, and approaches to training and learning of novel haptic devices have created renewed interest in engaging touch as a channel of communication, to relieve or substitute the overloaded or absent visual and auditory modalities The goal of such efforts, unlike the conventional vibration signals presently employed as notifications in various devices, is to determine how to develop wearable tactual displays that transfer sufficient information relating to environmental perception by engaging haptic patterns or symbols [14].
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