Distal Tactile Feedback for Text Entry on Tabletop Computers

McAdam, C. and Brewster, S.A. (2009) Distal Tactile Feedback for Text Entry on Tabletop Computers. In: Proceedings of BCS HCI 2009, Cambridge, UK,

Abstract

In this paper we present an initial study into the feasibility of using a mobile phone as a personal tactile display when interacting with a tabletop computer. There has been an increase in recent years in large touchscreen computers that use soft keyboards for text input. Text entry performance on such keyboards can be poor due to the lack of tactile feedback from the keys. Our approach is to use the vibration motor in a user's mobile phone to provide personal haptic feedback for interactions with the touchscreen computer. We ran an experiment to compare text entry on a touchscreen device with the tactile feedback being presented at different distal locations on the body (locations at which a user might keep a mobile device. The conditions were: no tactile feedback, feedback directly on the device, feedback at the wrist, upper arm, chest, belt and trouser pocket). The results showed that distal tactile feedback significantly increased text entry rates when presented to the wrist and upper arm. This was not at the expense of a reduction in text entry accuracy. This shows that the concept of presenting tactile feedback on a user's phone is an effective one and can improve interaction and text entry on tabletop computers.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McAdam, Mr Christopher and Brewster, Professor Stephen
• Authors: McAdam, C., and Brewster, S.A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Publisher: ACM Press