Do Vibrotactile Patterns on both Hands Improve Guided Navigation with a Walker?
Résumé
Current assistive technologies for navigation guidance using non-visual feedback often rely on audiovisual cues only. Haptic cues can also provide rich information while leaving the auditory sensory channel unencumbered. By enhancing the sensory information available for
guidance, haptics has the potential to improve the adoption of guiding technologies by people with, e.g., visual impairments. This paper evaluates the capacity of tactile patterns delivered by haptic handles to guide users walking with a walker while they are asked to follow a predefined path. We conducted a user study on 18 participants who used two haptic handles mounted on a walker in actual walking condition. We implemented three types of vibrotactile patterns for guidance: uni-manual (one handle), bi-manual (two handles), and dual (combining one-handle and two-handles patterns) were used depending on the direction. We also compared vibration and tapping stimulation modes to test for their potential influence on the guiding strategy and the user’s preference. Results showed no significant effect of the strategy or the stimulation mode on the accuracy of following the target path. However, they showed that bi-manual conditions presented a higher satisfaction rate, gave a sensation of being mentally less demanding to users, improved the confidence rate in succeeding the task, and increased the navigation speed.
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