The Effectiveness of Haptic Properties Under Cognitive Load: An Exploratory Study

TL;DR

This study explores how different haptic signal properties affect cognitive load during multitasking, revealing that amplitude is least demanding and preferences vary by gender and language.

Contribution

It systematically evaluates the cognitive load of individual haptic properties under multitasking conditions, providing new insights for designing effective wearable haptic interfaces.

Findings

Amplitude imposes the lowest cognitive load.

Preferences for haptic properties vary by gender and language.

Rapidly identifiable properties are preferred by users.

Abstract

With the rise of wearables, haptic interfaces are increasingly favored to communicate information in an ambient manner. Despite this expectation, existing guidelines are developed in studies where the participant's focus is entirely on the haptic task. In this work, we systematically study the cognitive load imposed by properties of a haptic signal. Participants wear a haptic device on their forearm, and are asked to perform a 1-back task. Each experimental condition isolates an individual property of the haptic signal (e.g., amplitude, waveform, rhythm) and participants are asked to identify the gradient of the data. We evaluate each condition across 16 participants, measuring participants' response times, error rates, and qualitative and quantitative surveys (e.g., NASA TLX). Our results indicate that gender and language differences may impact preference for some properties, that participants prefer properties that can be rapidly identified, and that amplitude imposes the lowest cognitive load.