Comment 2: http://chiblog.sjmorrow.com/2011/02/paper-reading-12-madgets-actuating.html
TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces
Olivier Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison
User Interface Software and Technology
This article was about a new system for multi touch surfaces that enhances the users ability to perceive and feel when they have pressed a button on the screen. The system is called TeslaTouch and it provides feedback in the form of an electrovibration so that the user "senses" that they have touched the item in question. The system uses no mechanical parts and is not *technically* shocking the user although they do feel the sensation of current moving. The state of the art currently is that there are feedback systems that make the whole device move when a button is pushed and some even provide a mechanical 'click' sound when the button is pressed. They have also seen that electrovibration has been used before but the ability to transport the technology was very limited when it was first discovered in 1954. Essentially what the project plans to do is to equip a multi-touch computer surface with their system and then allow users to perform standard operations and then report how the electro-feedback feels like to them. Then the users will be given a short survey in which they will answer questions to help the researchers refine the device. Each session will take about 20 to 35 minutes and will have a guide to help anyone who is stuck or is feeling uncomfortable with the reactions of the device. They also talk extensively about how the device and idea is totally safe and has no way to harm the user. Again, the device isn't shocking the user the user is just feeling the current moving through their skin. They also point out that the amount of friction that is made due to the system is no more than the average phone with multi-touch when held to the users ear. They also have discussed the use of a grounder however the human body is a large enough ground in most cases that it will likely go unused for most of the devices lifetime. Users said that the sensation felt like "wood or bumpy leather" and when increased voltage or amplitude like "rough painted wall". Overall the users were skeptical buy happy with the device and further prototypes are being developed.
I think is is a great project idea and I think the idea of havering positive feedback systems in multi-touch is a great idea. I would also be concerned about whether the device would be shocking me or not and I am still skeptical as to if I would not see a bit of skin irritation if I had a period of lengthy use. I do like that they considered and discussed at length the physical properties involved and the idea of having a backup grounding mechanism despite the fact that the human body is the best ground they have. I have been shocked by my multi-touch phone before and it was a rather large shock but it was not because of a system like this I was just very statically charged (apparently). My other concern with this is the idea of how much capacitance the device will have. In my home we will have some devices that are based off of low-amplitude radio or television waves and they commonly get feedback from our phones. I wonder if this addition to a phone would increase its capacitance further and make it to where this is more of a problem. Eventually we will not even be able to use these devices (many don't) but for the time being they are still around. This would actually be a study where I would volunteer simply because I think it is a good idea that might not be given enough testing due to user skeptics. Overall I think the system is well designed and well implemented and I am looking forward to seeing if companies pick this up for phones and how they market the idea.
If they do manage to avoid issues with the shocking, I think this would be a great way to fix the big weakness of touchscreen controls; the lack of tactile feedback.
ReplyDeleteBecause of that, this might even make it possible to have a touchscreen keyboard, independent of the main screen, which would allow effectively infinite reconfigurability if designed well. At the present time, obviously, touchscreen is limited to whatever you are looking at.
I think that this idea would be useful to improve upon current multitouch devices, but I agree, there do seem to be some questionable aspects about it. Not only would irritation and feedback have to be considered, like you mentioned, but what about the effect on battery life for handheld devices?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason the security objections came to mind as well when I read the paper. It would be nice if they examined the effects of electricity on skin before releasing the product
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