Haptic Interfaces for Mobile Devices: A Survey of the State of the Art

Recently, the mobile device industry has embraced haptic feedback in the form of vibrotactile sensations. With the advances in actuator and control design, a great variety of tactile stimuli such as short pulses and various vibrations can be conveyed to users. Natural interfacing methods have become an important issue in this field, because gestures in relation to mobile devices are the most informative means of expressing the user's intention. Haptic feedback can then notify the user of the success of a gestural input. The development of mobile devices that incorporate haptic feedback may mutually affect the development of application software such as web-based programs, games, and location-sensitive media. For more realistic haptic interaction, the development of new haptic interfaces for mobile devices should be based not only on system performance but also on further fundamental research into human perception and usability. This paper will cover interaction methods and application areas in mobile devices, followed by discussion of the trends for various devices equipped with tactile feedback, such as touchpad- and pen-based systems.