Urban Vibrations: Sensitivities in the Field with a Broad Demographic

Abstract

In this paper we describe a field study conducted with a wearable vibration belt where we test to determine the vibration intensity sensitivity ranges on a large diverse group of participants with evenly distributed ages and gender, ranging from seven to 79 years. We test for alterations in sensitivity in the field by introducing an escalating level of distraction in increasingly busy environments. The findings on sensitivity detection range differ from previous lab studies in that we found a decreased detection rate in busy environments. Here we test with a much larger sample and age range, and contribute with the first vibration sensitivity testing outside the lab in an urban public environment.