Dynamics and Control, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Human Technology Interaction, Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 21;10(1):17876. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-74835-x.
Vibrotactile displays worn on the back can be used as sensory substitution device. Often vibrotactile stimulation is chosen because vibration motors are easy to incorporate and relatively cheap. When designing such displays knowledge about vibrotactile perception on the back is crucial. In the current study we investigated distance perception. Biases in distance perception can explain spatial distortions that occur when, for instance, tracing a shape using vibration. We investigated the effect of orientation (horizontal vs vertical), the effect of positioning with respect to the spine and the effect of switching vibration motors on sequentially versus simultaneously. Our study includes four conditions. The condition which had a horizontal orientation with both vibration motors switching on sequentially on the same side of the spine was chosen is the baseline condition. The other three conditions were compared to this baseline condition. We found that distances felt longer in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, distances were perceived to be longer when vibration motors were distributed on both sides of the spine compared to when they were on the same side. Finally, distances felt shorter when vibration motors were switched on simultaneously compared to sequentially. In the simultaneous case a distance of 4 cm was not clearly perceived differently than a distance of 12 cm. When designing vibrotactile displays these anisotropies in perceived distance need to be taken into account because otherwise the intended shape will not match the perceived shape. Also, dynamically presented distances are more clearly perceived than static distances. This finding supports recommendations made in previous studies that dynamic patterns are easier to perceive than static patterns.
戴在背部的振动触觉显示器可用作感觉替代设备。通常选择振动触觉刺激，因为振动电机易于集成且相对便宜。在设计此类显示器时，了解背部的振动触觉感知至关重要。在当前的研究中，我们研究了距离感知。距离感知的偏差可以解释在使用振动追踪形状时发生的空间扭曲。我们研究了方向（水平与垂直）、相对于脊柱的定位以及顺序与同时切换振动电机的影响。我们的研究包括四个条件。选择具有水平方向且两个振动电机在脊柱同一侧顺序切换的条件作为基准条件。其他三个条件与该基准条件进行比较。我们发现，垂直方向上的距离感觉比水平方向上的距离感觉更长。此外，当振动电机分布在脊柱两侧时，与当它们位于同一侧时相比，距离感觉更长。最后，当振动电机同时开启时，与顺序开启相比，距离感觉更短。在同时开启的情况下，4 厘米的距离与 12 厘米的距离没有明显的区别。在设计振动触觉显示器时，需要考虑这些感知距离的各向异性，否则预期的形状将与感知到的形状不匹配。此外，动态呈现的距离比静态距离更容易感知。这一发现支持了先前研究中提出的建议，即动态模式比静态模式更容易感知。
