Haptic communication
Explore the science of tactons and the idea of recognizing everyday events through distinctive patterns of touch.
← Sensory Awareness overviewWhat are tactons?
Tactons are structured tactile signals, often patterns of vibration, that users can learn to associate with information. Instead of giving every event the same buzz, a system can explore different rhythms, durations or locations to communicate distinct meanings.
These examples are illustrative patterns only, not tested Sensivo standards.
Doorbell
Example: long–short–long.
Appliance timer
Example: three short pulses.
Running water
Example: a gentle flowing rhythm.
Pattern is not the same as sound.
One research direction maps physical qualities of audio, such as rhythm or intensity, to vibration. Sensivo's initial focus is different: testing whether users can recognize the meaning of an event through a learned tactile cue.
A louder sound should not automatically produce a more urgent alert. Relevance and priority need separate design rules.
Questions to investigate
- How many patterns can participants distinguish comfortably?
- Do user-created patterns improve recognition?
- When does repeated vibration become tiring?
- Can an iPhone provide sufficiently distinct patterns?
- Would an optional stronger wearable help?
Differential haptics: identifying what happened
In this research concept, the system would first classify an everyday sound and then assign it a distinct tactile cue. Its goal is not simply to say that noise occurred. The research asks whether a DeafBlind person could identify the event itself from a learned pattern, without consulting a visual screen.
Illustrative event-to-touch vocabulary
Doorbell
LONG · short · LONG
Example of an alternating pulse sequence.
Appliance timer
short · short · short
Example of three evenly spaced pulses.
Running water
short · medium · long · medium · short
Example of a changing pulse rhythm.
These are illustrations, not evaluated or standardized signals. Specific rhythms, strength, frequency (when device hardware permits), spacing and meanings must be established through user testing; results may differ across devices.
Questions a rigorous evaluation must answer
- Can participants correctly identify events from the tactile pattern alone?
- Which patterns remain distinguishable when several alerts occur close together?
- How do false positives, uncertain classifications and missed sounds affect usefulness?
- How quickly can a new pattern be learned and remembered?
- How do phone placement, tactile sensitivity, choice of device and haptic fatigue affect recognition?
- Can users adjust mappings without making them difficult to remember?