A comparison of audio and tactile displays for non-visual target selection tasks

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a series of three experiments carried out to evaluate the speed and accuracy of target acquisition tasks using visual, auditory, or tactile feedback modalities. Ten participants conducted a series of 1-D and 2-D pointing tasks using a pen-based input device and either visual, audio or tactile (vibratory) feedback. Fitts' Law was used to analyze the results. Overall, participants generally performed better with tactile displays than auditory displays, and were able to perform 1-D pointing tasks with auditory and tactile displays nearly as well as with visual displays. However, pointing in 2-D is significantly slower and more error-prone with non-visual displays.