New Parameters for Tacton Design

Tactons (tactile icons) are structured vibrotactile messages which can be used for non-visual information presentation. Information can be encoded in a set of Tactons by manipulating parameters available in the tactile domain. One limitation is the number of available usable parameters and research is ongoing to find further effective ones. This paper reports an experiment investigating different techniques (amplitude modulation, frequency, and waveform) for creating texture as a parameter for use in Tacton design. The results of this experiment show recognition rates of 94% for waveform, 81% for frequency, and 61% for amplitude modulation, indicating that a more effective way to create Tactons using the texture parameter is to employ different waveforms to represent roughness. These results will aid designers in creating more effective and usable Tactons.