A comparison of haptic and visual support for navigation in an audio-based city game
Tkacz, Jakub (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Human-Technology Interaction
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-03-07
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202402092222
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202402092222
Tiivistelmä
Navigation is a fundamental aspect of human life, yet current solutions are designed for vehicles, leaving pedestrian navigation as a derivative of its car equivalent. This thesis investigates a novel approach to pedestrian navigation, using haptic feedback to provide directional hints. Three methods were compared within navigation in an active city game: a haptic belt equipped with 16 vibrators, a smartwatch used as a haptic compass, and a smartphone with a compass displayed on the screen used as a baseline.
A user study was used to evaluate these devices on four dimensions - comfort, performance, intuitiveness, and preference, gathering data via questionnaires, interviews, and logs from the devices. The results indicate that the visual compass, outperformed other methods in most dimensions, offering familiar experience and precise directions. Moreover, it was least prone to GPS inaccuracies by offering constant feedback. The haptic devices, even though showing lower results, were offering the highest environmental awareness, which may be beneficial in different scenarios or locations.
Based on the experience from the user study, the multi-modal StageNav framework was introduced. It divides navigation into five distinct stages, recommending different feedback methods for each phase. This framework offers flexibility for designers and ensures that navigation offers the highest performance. The primary goal of the framework is to enhance the experience and safety of pedestrian navigation.
A user study was used to evaluate these devices on four dimensions - comfort, performance, intuitiveness, and preference, gathering data via questionnaires, interviews, and logs from the devices. The results indicate that the visual compass, outperformed other methods in most dimensions, offering familiar experience and precise directions. Moreover, it was least prone to GPS inaccuracies by offering constant feedback. The haptic devices, even though showing lower results, were offering the highest environmental awareness, which may be beneficial in different scenarios or locations.
Based on the experience from the user study, the multi-modal StageNav framework was introduced. It divides navigation into five distinct stages, recommending different feedback methods for each phase. This framework offers flexibility for designers and ensures that navigation offers the highest performance. The primary goal of the framework is to enhance the experience and safety of pedestrian navigation.