Haptic interface for the distracted drivers

The sense of touch can provide an effective, but at present underutilized, alternative to vision for information presentation to drivers. A series of empirical studies was designed to investigate the possibility of improving driver responses to potential critical emergency situations by the presentation of directional haptic warning signals. The results demonstrated the potential utility of haptic (and combined auditory and haptic) warning signals in capturing the visual attention of drivers to the direction requiring their immediate attention. These results have important implications for the increasingly popular multisensory interfaces. © 2008 SICE