Abstract
We often clean others' ears for the purpose of hygiene and communication. However, it has a risk of injuring the ears by applying too much force because it is difficult to grasp movement and position of an earpick. To solve this problem, we present novel techniques to provide cues for grasping behavior of the earpick using auditory feedback. We implemented two techniques: 1) ear-picking sound feedback and 2) audification of the force applied to the ear canal. We conducted two experiments to study whether these two techniques can help users control the force. Contrary to our expectation, the results of the first experiment showed that the ear-picking sound feedback had no effect for helping the force control. The results of the second experiment, on the other hand, showed a marginally significant effect that the audifcation of the force reduced the force applied to the ear canal. It indicates that the audification of the force helps users control the force.
