Evaluating the effect of vibrotactile intensity calibration on presenting 2D position information using a vibrotactile array

Abstract

We have constructed a haptic display system using a vibrotactile array that presents multi-point vibrotactile stimuli around the waist and a computational model that controls vibration amplitude according to 2D position information. Using this system, we have conducted 2 experiments. The first evaluated the difference in percieved sensitivity of vibrotactile stimulation through a vibrotactile calibration experiment. Results suggests sensitivity of vibrotactile stimulation around the waist is symmetric about the longitudinal axis. Sensitivity adjustment gains were calculated and used in the second experiment. The second evaluated the effect of sensitivity adjustment around the waist on the presentation of 2D position information. Results suggests sensitivity adjustment improves 2D position presentation in some cases.