Haptic Applications for Automotive: Communications

Touch is Highly Competent

One research experiment investigating the ability of haptic feedback to represent complex, organized information during difficult cognitive tasks showed that subjects could complete tasks simultaneously, with a haptic task accuracy rate as high as 93%.

Visual + Tactile is Best

An analysis evaluating the aggregate performance of visual, visual + audio, and visual + tactile interfaces reveals that, for high workload or multiple task scenarios, visual and tactile feedback provides a strong performance benefit, even with respect to visual and audio feedback. Visual and tactile is clearly an ideal mechanism for understanding alerts, warnings, and interruptions. However, because driving demands focused visual attention, tactile feedback becomes even more useful.

Touch is Stress Reducing

Research shows that haptics can offload the sight and/or sound channel, which can ease interactions and reduce complication and stress. Researchers examining touch as  a secondary information channel proposed that haptic feedback can function as a peripheral awareness interface, one providing sensory stimulation on a subconscious or peripheral level, which leaves the user’s primary focus on another task.

Users Prefer Tactile Feedback

Several studies document that people prefer tactile feedback over sight or sound alone, especially when it is an expected part of the experience, such as when answering a phone call — even when there is no measurable performance increase. Users typically perceive haptic feedback as providing additional information, confirmation, or other enhancement.