Investigating Pressure Input and Haptic Feedback for In-Car Touchscreens and Touch Surfaces

Abstract

The way drivers interact with in-car centre console controls is undergoing radical change as physical switchgear are replaced by virtual counterparts with the use of touchscreens. This provides the opportunity to design new input techniques to improve the way on-screen widgets are operated in driving situations. This paper investigates the effectiveness of pressure-based input with haptic feedback as an alternative touch modality for in-car interactions. Two user studies were conducted: one using a driving simulator and the other inside a vehicle driven on public roads, to evaluate two main pressure-based input techniques: positional and rate-based control. The results from a list-based targeting task showed that rate-based control performed well and was comparable to standard touch input and the physical dial while users had difficulties with positional pressure input. These findings from our studies will help engineers make more appropriate design decisions when developing in-car interactions with touchscreens and touch surfaces.