Design and Evaluation of Shape-Changing Haptic Interfaces for Pedestrian Navigation Assistance

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Haptics
• Assistive Technology

Background:

• Shape-changing interfaces dynamically alter form for information display.
• Existing navigation aids rely on visual or auditory cues, limiting accessibility.
• Haptic feedback offers a tactile channel for information transfer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate 'The Animotus', a novel shape-changing haptic device for navigation assistance.
• To assess the effectiveness of different degrees of freedom (DOF) in conveying navigational information.
• To compare the Animotus with a volumetric haptic device ('The Haptic Taco').

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of 'The Animotus' with rotational (heading) and translational (proximity) DOFs.
• Conducting a navigation experiment to measure user performance.
• Comparing the Animotus' performance against 'The Haptic Taco' and baseline conditions.

Main Results:

• The rotational DOF significantly improved motion efficiency.
• The translational DOF significantly enhanced user velocity.
• Combining both DOFs in the Animotus led to superior overall navigation performance.
• The Haptic Taco showed performance comparable to the Animotus' translational DOF alone.

Conclusions:

• Shape-changing haptic interfaces like the Animotus can effectively provide navigation guidance.
• Distinct haptic DOFs contribute differently to navigation efficiency and speed.
• The Animotus presents a promising alternative navigation tool for visually impaired, hearing impaired, deafblind, and sighted users.