Glossary

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Surface Haptics(also: Surface Haptic Technology)

A branch of haptic technology that creates tactile sensations directly on a flat surface, such as a touchscreen, by modulating the friction between a fingertip and the display. Unlike conventional vibration motors that shake the entire device, surface haptics produces localised…

Tactile Captions(also: Haptic Captions, Vibrotactile Captions)

An enhanced captioning approach that supplements traditional text-based captions with vibrotactile feedback, allowing deaf and hard of hearing viewers to feel non-speech sounds (such as phone rings, doorbells, footsteps, or objects falling) through a wrist-worn or body-worn…

Tactile Display(also: Haptic Display)

A device that presents information through the sense of touch, using raised elements, vibrations, or other tactile stimuli to convey data that would typically be presented visually. Tactile displays serve as assistive technology for blind and low vision users, enabling access to…

Tactile Dowsing

An interaction technique that uses vibrotactile feedback to guide a user toward a target direction in space without visual cues. The term draws an analogy to water dowsing, where a divining rod supposedly reacts when pointing toward the target. In tactile dowsing, a handheld…

Tactile Exploration Strategy(also: Haptic Exploration Strategy, Touch Exploration Pattern)

A systematic approach or pattern that a person uses when exploring tactile graphics, maps, or other touch-based representations. Research has identified several distinct strategies: "following outlines" (tracing the borders of shapes), "saccade" (jumping between specific zones),…

Tactile Stimulation(also: Tactile Feedback, Cutaneous Stimulation)

Tactile stimulation refers to the use of physical sensations delivered to the skin to convey information, typically through vibrations, pin arrays, textures, or pressure changes. In assistive technology, tactile stimulation is fundamental to braille displays, haptic interfaces,…

Thermotactile Feedback(also: Thermal Feedback, Thermal Haptic Feedback, Thermotactile Display)

Thermotactile feedback is a form of haptic communication that conveys information through controlled temperature changes on the skin, using heating or cooling elements such as Peltier thermoelectric modules. In accessibility, thermotactile feedback offers an alternative to…

Trajectory Playback(also: Haptic Playback, Force-Guided Movement)

A technique in haptic interfaces where a force-feedback device physically guides a user's hand through a predefined path or shape. The system applies forces to move the user along a trajectory, allowing them to perceive spatial information through proprioception and kinesthetic…

Two-Point Discrimination(also: Spatial Acuity, Tactile Acuity)

A measure of tactile sensitivity indicating the minimum distance at which two distinct points of contact on the skin can be perceived as separate rather than as a single point. Lower values indicate higher sensitivity. The fingertips have the highest two-point discrimination…

Variable Friction(also: Variable Friction Display, Friction Modulation)

A surface haptics technique that dynamically adjusts the friction between a user's fingertip and a touchscreen surface to create the sensation of different textures. Typically achieved through ultrasonic vibration that creates a thin cushion of air beneath the fingertip,…

Vibro-Audio(also: Vibrotactile Audio, Vibro-Tactile)

Vibro-audio is a multimodal interaction technique that combines vibration feedback from a device's built-in motor with auditory cues to convey information non-visually. On touchscreen devices, vibro-audio enables users to explore graphical content through touch — the device…

Vibro-Audio Map(also: VAM, Vibro-Audio Display)

A multimodal map representation for touchscreen devices that combines vibrotactile feedback with synchronised audio cues to convey spatial information non-visually. Users explore the map by dragging a finger across the screen; when they cross a feature (a street, a room…

Vibromotor(also: Vibration Motor, Vibrotactile Actuator, ERM)

A vibromotor is a small motor that produces vibration, commonly used in haptic feedback devices, smartphones, and wearable technology. The most common types are eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motors, which spin an off-center weight, and linear resonant actuators (LRAs), which…

Vibrotactile(also: Vibrotactile Feedback, Vibrotactile Stimulation)

A form of tactile feedback that uses mechanical vibrations applied to the skin to convey information. Vibrotactile stimulation typically operates at frequencies between 10-500 Hz and is perceived through mechanoreceptors in the skin. In assistive technology, vibrotactile…

Vibrotactile Feedback(also: Vibrotactile, Vibrotactile Display, Tactile Vibration)

A form of haptic feedback that uses vibration patterns to convey information through the sense of touch. In accessibility, vibrotactile feedback provides an alternative or complement to visual and auditory output channels, enabling communication with users who are blind, deaf,…

Virtual Texture(also: Simulated Texture, Haptic Texture)

A virtual texture is a computer-generated tactile surface property rendered through a haptic device, simulating the feel of roughness, smoothness, or other surface characteristics without a physical material being present. Virtual textures are created by varying the resistance,…

Virtual Wall(also: Haptic Wall, Haptic Boundary)

A simulated physical boundary in a haptic interface that the user can feel through a force-feedback device, modelled as a massless plate backed by a spring with stiffness and a damper with viscosity. Virtual walls are used to represent the edges and boundaries of graphical user…