Investigation of suitable body parts for wearable vibration feedback in walking navigation

doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.08.002

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

Volume 97, January 2017, Pages 34-44

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.08.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

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We assessed vibration perception and user preferences on nine body sites.
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Distal body sites offered the best vibration perceptions.
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The ears, fingers, wrist and neck are the most preferable.
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Lower body sites (the feet) were less preferable in walking situations.
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Proposed suitable vibration positions and design guidelines for walking navigation.

Abstract

Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of wearable vibration devices for walking navigation (Tsukada and Yasumura, 2004). Despite the potential benefits, suitable body parts for wearable vibration devices have not been defined or evaluated until now. We conducted three experiments to identify suitable body parts in terms of perceivability, wearability and user body location preferences for vibration devices. We tested vibration feedback on nine body parts (the ear, neck, chest, waist, wrist, hand, finger, ankle and foot). Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were conducted in the lab and in real-world walking settings in order to find suitable body parts. Our results indicate that the finger, wrist, ear, neck and feet had the highest perceivability and user preferences. Experiment 3 was conducted to understand the practical usability of those vibration positions in walking navigation. Our study results suggested that the feet are not suitable locations for vibration feedback in walking navigation. Based on the study results, we present design implications and guidelines for wearable vibration devices.

Introduction

Recently, walking navigation systems have become more efficient and user reliance on such systems is on the rise. Researchers (Brewster and Brown, 2004, Brewster et al., 2007 have shown that vibration feedback is especially beneficial in mobile situations where other human senses are distracted by complex environmental factors. Nowadays, many wearable vibration devices are available on the market (Fig. 1) and despite the recognized potential benefit of wearable vibration devices for navigation, a detailed understanding of the suitable bodily positions for vibration devices is lacking. Furthermore, important design factors such as context of use, user comfort, wearability and mobility for navigation have not been adequately explored. Thus, it is important to find the most suitable vibration positions to convey directional information when walking; these positions should be practical and comfortable to wear in real mobile contexts.

In Experiment 1, we tested vibration perception in eight vibration positions: the ear, neck, chest, waist, wrist, hand, ankle and foot (Fig. 2a). However, according to suggestions offered by the participants, the finger was added in Experiment 2. Furthermore, vibration positions on the ear, wrist, hand, finger, ankle and foot were mirrored. Thus the vibration positions in Experiment 2 were increased from 8 to 15 positions (Fig. 2b).

In addition to vibration perceptions, knowledge about interference from movement on each body part was also required to determine the most suitable vibration positions. Previous studies (van Erp, 2005, Jones et al., 2009, Karuei et al., 2011) have demonstrated diminished vibration perception on some body parts. However, these studies were conducted in lab settings. We considered that interference from motion in the lab setting would likely be significantly different from that in real walking settings because real mobile environments impose a load on the visual and auditory senses which may distract the user from paying attention to less sensitive body parts. Thus, to understand suitable vibration positions, we also conducted experiments in a real mobile setting (Experiment 2). Results from Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that the ear, wrist, finger, neck and foot were the most sensitive to vibrations. In Experiment 3, to assess the practical usability of the vibration positions for walking navigation, the participants performed map navigation using the vibration positions suggested from Experiments 1 and 2. Results from Experiment 3 indicated that the feet were less effective for vibration feedback in walking navigation situations.

We addressed three specific research questions.

Q1. Among the body parts of interest, which positions offer the best vibration perception in static and walking conditions respectively? (Experiment 1)
Q2. Which vibration positions are the most preferable for users to use in real mobile settings? (Experiment 2)
Q3. Which vibration positions are practical and usable for walking navigation? (Experiment 3)

The study results were compiled and presented as design guidelines for wearable vibration feedback in walking navigation. The contributions of our study are:

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Evaluation of vibration perception on different body parts when users are walking in real mobile environments
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Identification of the most suitable body parts for walking navigation
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Design guidelines for wearable vibration devices for walking navigation

Section snippets

Related work

For our study, which is focused on vibration feedback for walking navigation, we highlight the most relevant literature in human haptic perception, wearable vibration and walking navigation.

Experiment 1: vibration perceivability in static and walking conditions¹

Experiment 1 compares participants' vibration perception on different body parts in varied conditions. The experiment was conducted to address Q1: Among the body parts of interest, which positions offer the best vibration perception in static and walking conditions respectively?

Experiment 2: vibration perceivability in real mobile environments

Experiment 1 investigated vibration perception and the effect of motion on different body parts. We aimed to investigate differences between vibration perception and user preferences in the lab setting and in the real mobile settings in order to determine suitable vibration positions for real-world settings. Thus, Experiment 2 was conducted to address Q2: Which vibration positions are the most preferable for use in real mobile environments?

Experiment 3: practical usability for walking navigation

Experiment 3 sought to assess the potential of each vibrator position (i.e. the wrists, fingers, feet, ears and the neck) as suggested by Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 for application in real navigation situations. Using these vibration positions, the participants performed map navigation (see Fig. 8). Thus, Experiment 3 aims to address Q3: Which vibration positions are practically usable for walking navigation?

Design implications and guidelines

From the study results and close observations throughout the experiments, we propose the following design guidelines.

Conclusion and future work

This study presents appropriate body parts for vibration feedback in order to facilitate the design of effective vibration feedback for walking navigation. The study investigated static and fast walking in the lab setting (Experiment 1), walking in real mobile settings (Experiment 2), and walking navigation (Experiment 3). The main findings are:

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The distal body parts (i.e., ears, wrist, fingers, feet, neck) deliver better vibration perceivability. These body parts can be used interchangeably for

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Handityo Aulia Putra, Machida Taiga, John Cahill and other members of The Center for Human-Engaged Computing at Kochi University of Technology, for their wide-ranging support. We are also grateful to our participants for their effort and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful suggestions.

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View full text

Investigation of suitable body parts for wearable vibration feedback in walking navigation

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Related work

Experiment 1: vibration perceivability in static and walking conditions1

Experiment 2: vibration perceivability in real mobile environments

Experiment 3: practical usability for walking navigation

Design implications and guidelines

Conclusion and future work

Acknowledgements

Exp. Neurol.

Transport. Res. Part F: Traffic Psychol. Behav.

Curr. Opin. Neurobiol.

Evaluating vibrotactile dimensions for the design of tactons

IEEE Trans. Haptics

Sensory perception during movement in man

Exp. Brain Res.

Modulation of the cutaneous responsiveness of neurones in the primary somatosensory cortex during conditioned arm movements in the monkey

Exp. Brain Res.

Evaluation of the relative roles of slowly and rapidly adapting afferent fibers in roughness perception

Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol.

Vibrotactile pattern recognition on the arm and back

Perception

Field studies of pedestrian walking speed and start-up time

Transport. Res. Rec. J. Transport. Res. Board

Skin and touch

Encycl. Human Biol. 7

Experiment 1: vibration perceivability in static and walking conditions¹