Identification and evaluation of perceptual attributes for periodic whole-body and hand-arm vibration

Abstract

When a systematic tactile design of a product is to be conducted, it is necessary to understand important perceptual properties of vibration from a user perspective. In everyday life humans are exposed to whole-body and hand-arm vibration, e.g. when driving a vehicle. Vibration of the steering wheel and seat is transmitted to the driver and conveys information about the condition of the road and vehicle. Depending on the spectral and temporal properties of the vibration signal certain attributes are elicited in the driver, e.g., “bumpy”. Such verbaliseable attributes describe the vibration from a perceptual perspective. In this study periodic whole-body and hand-arm vibration were presented to test subjects. The most common tactile attributes were collected using a free interview. Afterwards, these attributes were rated for their suitability to characterize the signal patterns. The results show a systematic relationship between physical parameters (level, carrier frequency and modulation frequency) and this suitability.