Tactifloor: design and evaluation of vibration signals for doorway reminder systems

The forgetting of objects is an everyday problem. Current research projects develop doorway reminder systems which are supposed to remind the user of certain objects or events before leaving home. At present the focus of research is mainly on the technical design of the recognition of persons and objects. For this reason we are concentrating on the design and evaluation of possible system feedback. In particular, the target group of the digital natives is familiar with the concept of tactile feedback for reminder functions. Therefore known vibration patterns were used, which are to be transferred to the user via the floor. This solution was implemented in a first prototype. A user study with 19 volunteers showed a general acceptance of tactile feedback via floor panel and the cognitive link of the vibration patterns with reminder notifications.