Tactile feedback for mobile interactions

TLDR

Key‑boards on mobile devices are difficult to use because the keys are very small. This study investigates the use of vibrotactile feedback on touch‑screen keyboards for PDAs. The authors conducted a laboratory experiment comparing standard touch‑screen keyboards to ones with vibrotactile feedback, then repeated the study with users seated on an underground train to evaluate real‑world transfer. In the laboratory, vibrotactile feedback increased text entry speed, reduced errors, and improved error correction, whereas on the train only error‑correction improved, yet users reported strong preference for the tactile display, suggesting a key role for vibrotactile cues in touch‑screen interaction.

Abstract

We present a study investigating the use of vibrotactile feedback for touch-screen keyboards on PDAs. Such key-boards are hard to use when mobile as keys are very small. We conducted a laboratory study comparing standard but-tons to ones with tactile feedback added. Results showed that with tactile feedback users entered significantly more text, made fewer errors and corrected more of the errors they did make. We ran the study again with users seated on an underground train to see if the positive effects trans-ferred to realistic use. There were fewer beneficial effects, with only the number of errors corrected significantly im-proved by the tactile feedback. However, we found strong subjective feedback in favour of the tactile display. The results suggest that tactile feedback has a key role to play in improving interactions with touch screens.