Audio haptic feedbacks for an acquisition task in a multi-target context

This paper presents the use of audio and haptic feedbacks to reduce the load of the visual channel in interaction tasks within virtual environments. An examination is made regarding the exploitation of audio and/or haptic cues for the acquisition of a desired target in an environment containing multiple and obscured distractors. This study compares different ways of identifying and locating a specified target among others by the mean of either audio, haptic, or both feedbacks rendered simultaneously. The analysis of results and subjective user comments indicate that active haptic and combined audio/haptic conditions offer better results when compared to the audio only condition. Moreover, that the association of haptic and audio feedback presents a real potential for the completion of the task.