Impact of whole-body vibrations on electrovibration perception varies with target stimulus duration

TL;DR

This study investigates how whole-body vibrations from vehicle turbulence affect the perception of electrovibration on touchscreens, revealing that vibrations impair perception of short stimuli due to involuntary finger movements and force fluctuations.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into the interaction between vehicle-induced vibrations and electrovibration perception, informing future touchscreen design in dynamic vehicle environments.

Findings

Perception thresholds are 38% higher for short stimuli during turbulence.

Whole-body vibrations increase finger movement and force fluctuations.

Vibration effects are significant only for short-duration electrovibration stimuli.

Abstract

This study explores the impact of whole-body vibrations induced by external vehicle perturbations, such as aircraft turbulence, on the perception of electrovibration displayed on touchscreens. Electrovibration holds promise as a technology for providing tactile feedback on future touchscreens, addressing usability challenges in vehicle cockpits. However, its performance under dynamic conditions, such as during whole-body vibrations induced by turbulence, still needs to be explored. We measured the absolute detection thresholds of 15 human participants for short- and long-duration electrovibration stimuli displayed on a touchscreen, both in the absence and presence of two types of turbulence motion generated by a motion simulator. Concurrently, we measured participants' applied contact force and finger scan speeds. Significantly higher (38%) absolute detection thresholds were observed for short electrovibration stimuli than for long stimuli. Finger scan speeds in the direction of turbulence, applied forces, and force fluctuation rates increased during whole-body vibrations due to biodynamic feedthrough. As a result, turbulence also significantly increased the perception thresholds, but only for short-duration electrovibration stimuli. The results reveal that whole-body vibrations can impede the perception of short-duration electrovibration stimuli, due to involuntary finger movements and increased normal force fluctuations. Our findings offer valuable insights for the future design of touchscreens with tactile feedback in vehicle cockpits.