Avaliação da percepção pseudo-háptica em dispositivos de telas sensíveis ao toque com a utilização de canetas

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of pseudo-haptic perception in representing varying levels of stiffness on touchscreen devices, focusing on stylus-mediated interaction. Pseudo-haptic perception involves simulating tactile sensations through visual and motor stimuli, enabling users to interpret the physical properties of virtual objects even without actual tactile feedback. To conduct the study, an experiment was designed in which participants interacted with virtual objects simulating different stiffness levels via visual deformations. Three interaction methods were evaluated: a stylus with a disc tip, a stylus with a rubber tip, and finger interaction. During the tests, participants were asked to identify the stiffness of the presented objects; their responses were analyzed using an accuracy metric based on the proportion of correct classifications. The results indicate that pseudo-haptic perception can consistently convey differences in stiffness, with participants demonstrating satisfactory performance particularly in scenarios with high contrast between the simulated levels. Across all experiments, the consolidated overall accuracy was 70,6%, indicating that participants correctly identified stiffness levels in the majority of interactions. Furthermore, the use of styluses was found to contribute positively to response accuracy, suggesting that stylus-mediated interaction may facilitate greater control and sensitivity when exploring virtual objects. The study concludes that pseudohaptics represents a viable and accessible alternative for simulating tactile properties in digital interfaces, expanding potential applications in fields such as training, education, and interactive design. Despite limitations regarding the experimental scope and the number of participants, the findings contribute to the advancement of human-computer interaction research and point toward future investigations involving various interaction methods and sensory feedback techniques.