Training to Understand Complex Haptic Phrases: A Longitudinal Investigation

Abstract

The ability to understand simple vocabulary, conveyed by haptics, has demonstrated encouraging results, even with limited training. However, the level of achievable accuracy on communication indicative of real-world conversations, typically characterized by long phrases formed by complex vocabulary, remains unknown. This work presents an in-depth case-study analysis of the learning path of one experienced participant over a two-month period of daily practice with our vibrotactile communication apparatus. By the end of the two months, this participant was able to correctly identify 97% of the words in phrases consisting of 6-8 words, delivered as a sequence of vibration patterns. To the best of our knowledge, this work demonstrates the most advanced haptic rendering of language through a wearable device to date.