Visual–haptic feedback interaction in automotive touchscreens

Touchscreen interfaces offer benefits in terms of flexibility and ease of interaction and as such their use has increased rapidly in a range of devices, from mobile phones to in-car technology. However, traditional touchscreens impose an inevitable visual workload demand that has implications for safety, especially in automotive use. Recent developments in touchscreen technology have enabled feedback to be provided via the haptic channel. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of visual and haptic touchscreen feedback on visual workload, task performance and subjective response using a medium-fidelity driving simulator. Thirty-six experienced drivers performed touchscreen ‘search and select’ tasks while engaged in a motorway driving task. The study utilised a 3 × 2 within-subjects design, with three levels of visual feedback: ‘immediate’, ‘delayed’, ‘none’; and two levels of haptic feedback: ‘visual only’, ‘visual + haptic’. Results showed that visual workload was increased when visual feedback was delayed or absent; however, introducing haptic feedback counteracted this effect, with no increases observed in glance time and count. Task completion time was also reduced when haptic feedback was enabled, while driving performance showed no effect due to feedback type. Subjective responses indicated that haptic feedback improved the user experience and reduced perceived task difficulty.

► Delaying or removing touchscreen visual feedback increases visual workload.
► Touchscreen haptic feedback counteracts effects of degraded visual feedback.
► Drivers make fewer glances during touchscreen tasks with haptic feedback enabled.
► Driving performance is degraded by interaction with in-car technology.
► Haptic feedback improves users’ experience of an in-car touchscreen interface.