Publication:

GuidingHaptics

A user study comparing different guiding devices was conducted to evaluate the mental workload of their usage. Several devices were evaluated, among them, GuidingHaptics which vibrates asymmetrically to produce a pulling sensation in the hand, a vibration band on the user’s wrist whose stimuli must interpreted as a direction, and finally a pair of headphones that produce beeping sounds as means of guidance. The guiding devices and their respective drivers were first constructed, and the software necessary for their operation implemented. Tuning was required to produce sufficiently strong, perceptible, and interpretable stimuli. For the user study, a program was implemented to control the guiding devices and collect the subject’s objective data. The users were required to fill in a NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire. A statistical analysis on the subjective and objective data was later conducted.