Paper Reading #14 : Tesla Touch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces

Authors: Oliver Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison

Occupation:
Oliver, Ivan, Ali- Research Scientist in Disney Research at Pittsburgh
Chris- HCI institute at Carnegie Mellon

Location:

 Published in UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23nd annual ACM symposium, New York

Summary

Hypothesis

An advantageous method of touch surface interaction can be achieved through the usage of electrovibration instead of the current style of tactile interfaces 

Method

10 participants were used in their study. This was done as each of the participants were exposed to four different Tesla touch textures. For each one the participants answered questions and talked about the experience/sensations felt. During the test 10 minutes were spent by each of the participants in detection thresholds while seven of them spent time on frequency and amplitude detection. (for about 10 minutes) The participants were also given many different types/intensities of signals and were asked to see if they were detectable based on feelings. 

Results

Based on the evaluation conducted by the participants higher frequency based signals were detected in a smoother fashion compared to the low frequencies(described as wood like coarse). It was also seen that this sensation given by the amplitude had a strong connection with the frequency. This connection was based on the fact that the smoothness would increase in both the frequency and the amplitude increased. On the other hand, low amplitude gave a coarse or even a sticky feeling. In terms of detection thresholds the researchers found that the level of frequency had a strong correlation on determinable threshold.  

Content

This paper talks about the different ways one can generate a tactile feedback for touch based devices and interfaces. This was accomplished by the authors through the usage of electrovibration. This is basically low levels of current which is used to stimulate the fingers. This was tested by using various types of frequency and amplitudes while getting information on various sensations that two combinations make when used. The researchers also looked for the minimum point of intensity for people to feel or detect the electrovibration. The paper covers the testing (mostly) and applications of this product. At the end the possible usage and applications were briefly talked about. (as a touch device)

Discussion

I personally thought this article was some what interesting. I liked the fact that the authors were very meticulous on the details and the process of their testing. I personally think the paper was well done but i am just sure if people will be willing to switch to such a different concept on tactile touch mostly because there is already a lot of vested interest by powerful companies on existing touch technology.