Ultrahapticons: “Haptifying” Drivers’ Mental Models to Transform Automotive Mid-Air Haptic Gesture Infotainment Interfaces

Abstract

In-vehicle gesture interfaces show potential to reduce visual demand and improve task performance when supported with mid-air, ultrasound-haptic feedback. However, comparative studies have tended to select gestures and haptic sensations based either on experimental convenience or to conform with existing interfaces, and thus may have fallen short on realising their full potential. Aiming to design and validate an exemplar set of ultrasonic, mid-air haptic icons (“ultrahapticons”), a participatory design exercise was conducted, whereby seventeen participants were presented with seven in-vehicle infotainment tasks. Participants were asked to describe their mental models for each, and then sketch these visual, tactual and auditory associations. ‘Haptifiable’ elements were extracted, and these were analysed using semiotics principles, resulting in thirty ultrahapticon concepts. These were subsequently evaluated and further refined in a workshop involving user experience and haptics experts. The final seventeen concepts will be validated in a salience recognition and perspicuity study.