Exploring vibrotactile feedback on the body and foot for the purpose of pedestrian navigation

Abstract

In this paper, we present an evaluation of vibrotactile onbody feedback for the purpose of pedestrian navigation. For this specific task, many researchers already provide different approaches such as vibrating belts, wristbands or shoes. Still, there are issues left that have to be considered, such as which body position is most suitable, what kind of vibration patterns are easy to interpret, and how applicable are vibrotactile feedback systems in real scenarios. To find answers, we reconstructed prototypes commonly found in literature and continued to further evaluate different foot-related designs. On the one hand, we learned that vibrotactile feedback at the foot reduces visual attention and thus also potentially reduces stress. However, on the other hand, we found that urban space can be very diverse, and ambiguous and therefore a vibrotactile system cannot completely replace common path finding systems for pedestrians. Rather, we envision such a system to be applied complementary as an assistive technology.