title: Information from time-varying vibrotactile stimuli.
abstract: Experiments have been carried out to investigate the information transfer available via a single vibrator on the fingertip. In a first experiment, for stimuli with durations 80 to 320 ms, discrimination of a one-octave step change in frequency at the halfway point was investigated. Results were similar for three stimulus types--sinewave, monophasic pulse and tetraphasic pulse--suggesting temporal cues are more important than spectral cues in this task. In a second experiment, subjects were required to perceive changes in a sequence of stimulus elements. A presentation rate of 6.25 elements s-1 was found to give better results than a rate of 12.5 elements s-1. In the former case, the potential information transfer per element was estimated to be approximately 1.0 bits, corresponding to an information transfer rate of around 6 bits s-1. Implications for the design of a tactile aid to lipreading are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gratton
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Milnes
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch; D014732:Vibration