Feel the information with VisPad: a large area vibrotactile device

Received: 13 July 2003 Revised: 15 October 2003 Accepted: 15 October 2003 Abstract A new haptics design for visualizing data is constructed out of commodity massage pads and custom controllers and interfaces to a computer. It is an output device for information that can be transmitted to a user who sits on the pad. Two unique properties of the design are: (a) its large feedback area and (b) its passive nature, where unlike most current haptics devices, the user’s hands are free to work on other things. To test how useful such a device is for visualizing data, we added the VisPad interface to our protein structurealignment program (ProtAlign) and performed usability studies. The studies demonstrated that information could be perceived significantly faster utilizing our multi-modal presentation compared to vision-based graphical visualization alone. Information Visualization (2004) 3, 36–48. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ivs.9500060