Evaluating User Response to In-Car Haptic Feedback Touchscreens Using the Lane Change Test

Matthew J Pitts,Tom Wellings,Alex Attridge,Lee Skrypchuk,Mark A Williams

doi:10.1155/2012/598739

Abstract

Touchscreen interfaces are widely used in modern technology, from mobile devices to in-car infotainment systems. However, touchscreens impose significant visual workload demands on the user which have safety implications for use in cars. Previous studies indicate that the application of haptic feedback can improve both performance of and affective response to user interfaces. This paper reports on and extends the findings of a 2009 study conducted to evaluate the effects of different combinations of touchscreen visual, audible, and haptic feedback on driving and task performance, affective response, and subjective workload; the initial findings of which were originally published in (M. J. Pitts et al., 2009). A total of 48 non-expert users completed the study. A dual-task approach was applied, using the Lane Change Test as the driving task and realistic automotive use case touchscreen tasks. Results indicated that, while feedback type had no effect on driving or task performance, preference was expressed for multimodal feedback over visual alone. Issues relating to workload and cross-modal interaction were also identified.

Highlights

The touchscreen interface is synonymous with ubiquitous computing, being found in an ever-widening array of devices
Driving performance was measured by the mean deviation from the normative path: the average amount that the driver moved from the modelled path through the Lane Change Test (LCT) scenario
Feedback type was found to have no effect on lateral deviation or touchscreen taskcompletion time

Summary

Introduction

The touchscreen interface is synonymous with ubiquitous computing, being found in an ever-widening array of devices. As visual attention must be directed to the touchscreen during use, the interface imposes significant levels of visual workload upon the user; over 70% of the time taken to complete an invehicle touchscreen task can be spent looking away from the road [4]. This has implications for safety: accident risk is correlated to both the duration and frequency of glances away from the forward roadway [5], and large-scale studies have found that up to 60% of crashes, near-crashes, and incidents can be attributed to visual distraction from the primary driving task [6]. This problem is exacerbated the lack of tactile and kinaesthetic feedback [7] that would normally be provided by a traditional mechanical control such as a pushbutton or dial

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