Touch the Sound: Audio-Driven Tactile Feedback for Audio Mixing Applications

In this study, experiments were conducted to determine if a person could distinguish percussive audio loops by their fingertips using audio-driven tactile feedback. The audio signal was adapted to generate a vibration signal (tactile feedback) taking into account the limited capabilities of the tactile modality. A systematic approach to find the different adaptation parameters is discussed. The vibrations were created by an electro-dynamic shaker mounted behind a touch-sensitive screen. Results indicate percussive loops are best distinguished if the source features (e.g., frequency spectrum) and sequence features (e.g., rhythm) are maintained. Also, the pragmatic and hedonic qualities of an interactive, multimodal system using audio-driven tactile feedback were evaluated using a semantic differential.