Development and Evaluation of Vibrating Tactile Devices to Promote Adventurous Attitudes

Abstract

Sustaining a sense of adventure is important for improving the likelihood of life opportunities. In this study, we propose a wearable haptic presentation device that promotes emotional arousal with the aim of fostering an emotional state that enhances an individual's sense of adventure. We then investigate the extent to which the user's emotional state is affected by the type of tactile rhythm generated by the device. The results showed that the tactile presentation by the proposed device did not consistently change the emotional valence, but the arousal level changed with the tactile presentation rhythm. Furthermore, the results suggest the existence of rhythmic patterns that enhance cognitive states associated with adventurous attitudes such as "optimistic attitude" and " ease. The present results suggest that tactile presentation with rhythm may be able to change human emotions in a way that encourage adventure.