Vibrotactile feedback in steering wheel reduces navigation errors during GPS-guided car driving

Abstract

We show that vibrotactile feedback displayed through the steering wheel of a car can reduce the perceptual and cognitive load of the driver, leading to less distraction and fewer navigation errors. To demonstrate the concept, two vibration motors are mounted onto the steering wheel of a driving simulator and driving experiments are performed in virtual environments under two different sensory conditions (auditory alone and auditory and vibrotactile feedback together). The results of our experiments with 12 subjects show that, if passenger auditory noise and distraction exist in the environment, the navigation errors (making a wrong turn or taking a wrong exit) are reduced when vibrotactile feedback is displayed to the users in tandem with the GPS-based voice commands.