Comparison of tactile and visual feedback for a multi-state input mechanism

A chording system which incorporates pressure-sensitive input elements and vibratory feedback elements is presented. Both input and feedback elements are capable of multiple states. A three-state, three-element system configuration in which input states correspond to levels of finger pressure on sensors is used for the experiments described. Tactile feedback is provided via stimulators vibrating in bursts on the palm and/or with visual feedback in colors. Experiments were performed on three groups of subjects: visual, tactile and combined visual/tactile feedback. The influence of feedback on the speed and accuracy with which the subjects could input information was examined. The preliminary results indicate that within-modality feedback (tactile) provides improved performance over cross-modality feedback (visual) or simultaneous visual and tactile feedback