Delayed Visual and Haptic Feedback in a Reciprocal Tapping Task

To make optimal use of distributed virtual environments (DVEs), we must understand and quantify the effects that latency has on user performance. Although the effects of visual lag have been subject to considerable investigation, far less is known about the consequences of delayed haptic feedback. The current study investigates whether delaying haptic, and/or visual feedback in a simple reciprocal tapping task impairs performance or makes the task appear more difficult to the user. Results indicate that in reciprocal tapping, haptic latency has a small effect on performance, but is considerably less disruptive than a lag in visual feedback, providing evidence that in simple operations, such as reaching out to touch surfaces, users of DVEs may be able to tolerate a considerable amount of lag.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: HAPTICS
• Authors: Caroline Jay, Roger J. Hubbold
• Keywords: Delayed Haptic Feedback, HAPTICS 2005, Reciprocal Tapping, Virtual Reality, Visual Feedback