Comparing Tangible and Fully Virtual Haptic Systems for HMI Studies in Simulated Driving Situations

Abstract

The contribution of tangible and intangible feedback is compared for virtual tactile car Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) design, to measure their performance both in static conditions and while driving. A subjectively calibrated transparent glass provides tangible passive haptics, and visual cues are used to study sensory substitution based intangible interactions. The results show that the performance of the subjects was significantly improved in driving conditions as they interacted faster, more accurately and with a higher satisfaction. In addition, our findings highlight that the contribution of tangible systems is significantly lower in driving conditions, raising new questions about the nature of haptic modalities in the function of the context of use. This study provides additional knowledge about the influence of dynamic environments and external tasks on haptic perception.