Vibrotactile perceived intensity for mobile devices as a function of direction, amplitude, and frequency. 2013

Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi

Vibrotactile rendering is an emerging interaction method for information transmission in mobile devices, replacing or supplementing visual and auditory displays. To design effective vibrotactile actuators or display algorithms, an understanding of the perceived intensity (strength) of their vibrations is essential. This paper aims to build a robust model for the perceived intensities of mobile device vibrations, which can be immediately used by engineers and application designers. To this end, we carried out two psychophysical experiments using absolute magnitude estimation procedures. In Experiment I, we investigated the effects of vibration direction and device weight on the perceived intensity of mobile device vibrations. The vibration directions tested (height, width, and depth), and the device weights (90-130 g) were determined considering those of contemporary mobile devices. Only the vibration direction was found to be a statistically significant factor, showing the highest perceived intensities along the height direction of a mobile device. In Experiment II, we measured the perceived intensities of vibrations with various amplitudes and frequencies along the three vibration directions. Then, for each direction, a psychophysical magnitude function and equal sensation contours were constructed based on Stevens' power law, which clearly visualize the consequences of vibration parameter changes on the resulting perceptual strength. In addition, we found a monotonic relationship between the physical power of vibration absorbed by the hand and the resulting perceived intensity. This suggests that the former, which is greatly easier to acquire in practice, is a reliable predictor of the latter. We expect that the results of this study can provide immediate knowledge about the perceptual strength of vibrations that engineers and applications developers will find useful.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D011601 Psychophysics The science dealing with the correlation of the physical characteristics of a stimulus, e.g., frequency or intensity, with the response to the stimulus, in order to assess the psychologic factors involved in the relationship. Psychophysic
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D012684 Sensory Thresholds The minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to elicit a sensory response. Sensory Threshold,Threshold, Sensory,Thresholds, Sensory
D014110 Touch Sensation of making physical contact with objects, animate or inanimate. Tactile stimuli are detected by MECHANORECEPTORS in the skin and mucous membranes. Tactile Sense,Sense of Touch,Taction,Sense, Tactile,Senses, Tactile,Tactile Senses,Tactions,Touch Sense,Touch Senses
D014732 Vibration A continuing periodic change in displacement with respect to a fixed reference. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Vibrations
D055698 Touch Perception The process by which the nature and meaning of tactile stimuli are recognized and interpreted by the brain, such as realizing the characteristics or name of an object being touched. Tactile Perception,Perception, Tactile,Perception, Touch,Perceptions, Tactile,Perceptions, Touch,Tactile Perceptions,Touch Perceptions

Related Publications

Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
December 1990, The Journal of physiology,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
February 1969, Perceptual and motor skills,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
March 1998, Pain,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
January 2010, IEEE transactions on haptics,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
January 2016, IEEE transactions on haptics,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
June 1979, Sensory processes,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
May 1997, Perception & psychophysics,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
January 1991, Experimental brain research,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
September 1996, Journal of motor behavior,
Inwook Hwang, and Jongman Seo, and Myongchan Kim, and Seungmoon Choi
January 1996, Somatosensory & motor research,
Copied contents to your clipboard!