The Effect of Vibrotactile Stimulation on the Emotional Response to Horror Films

Abstract

Over the last decade consumers have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of low fidelity, discrete vibrotactile feedback to enhance or replace audio stimuli in entertainment systems. However, use of high-resolution continuous vibrotactile displays remains quite uncommon. The Emoti-Chair is a high-resolution continuous vibrotactile display that may be driven by any type of audio signal, and is purported to convey the emotional properties of sound through organized vibrotactile stimulation. In the current study, we examined the ability of the Emoti-Chair to convey the emotional content of the soundtrack in a horror film. Increases in skin conductance levels were observed when vibrotactile stimuli were added to audio/visual film content. These results provide evidence that users can augment the communication of emotion in film through use of a high-resolution continuous vibrotactile display.