We have now so many issues combating for our consideration nowadays. Between our emails, textual content messages, smartphone and smartwatch notifications, and the whole lot else competing for our eyeballs, it’s simple to develop alert fatigue. If the whole lot is handled as vital, then in some unspecified time in the future, nothing will likely be extra vital than the rest. These incessant distractions in the end scale back person engagement and hinder our capacity to successfully reply to actual emergencies. The vibrations or audible tones of a notification merely fade into the background and go unnoticed or deliberately ignored.
In an effort to interrupt the monotony and recapture our consideration when needed, researchers on the UniversitĂ© Grenoble Alpes in France have been experimenting with a brand new sort of notification system. Specializing in smartwatches initially, the workforce is exploring how comfortable, shape-changing surfaces would possibly be capable to higher seize our consideration than conventional strategies that at the moment are generally in use. Their method includes using a novel floor on the again of a watch that may morph into completely different shapes to offer us with alerts through tactile sensations. Their hope was that such a stimulation is likely to be extra more likely to be seen and acted upon, even when we’re feeling alert fatigue.
The watch is being loosely worn to reveal actuation (đź“·: Z. Fan et al.)
To create the prototype machine, the workforce used a stereolithography 3D printer to make a watch-like object with a comfortable again that may be deformed when inflated with air. The watch case and bracelet have been printed in a resin materials, whereas the shape-changing air chamber was printed with a silicone materials. When deflated, the backing is as skinny as three millimeters. A set of three 12 volt two-way peristaltic air pumps (situated exterior to the watch) have been used for actuation of the notification system.
In a collection of experiments, members examined two completely different designs of shape-changing wrist interfaces to find out absolutely the threshold at which they discover the haptic suggestions. The unbiased variable was the design of the air channels that management the curvature of the watch’s floor. Design R had dense and evenly spaced air channels, resulting in a flatter curvature at 12 psi. Design P had air channels extra spaced on the edges and nearer collectively on the middle, producing a pointier curvature on the similar stress. Curvatures have been examined within the vary of 1 to 13 psi, with vital variations between the 2 designs rising at 10 to 13 psi.
Contributors wore the bracelet, which was securely fitted to their wrists utilizing a sizing mannequin primarily based on wrist circumference, and half of the members began with Design R, whereas the opposite half started with Design P. Dependent variables included whether or not members seen the stimulus, their preferences, and subjective detectability of the curvatures, measured by means of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
The experimental setup (đź“·: Z. Fan et al.)
The experiment outcomes revealed that absolutely the detection threshold (ADT) for each the flat-to-round (R) and flat-to-pointy (P) surfaces was low, indicating that members have been delicate to the shape-changing stimuli. The ADT for the R floor was 3.49 psi, whereas the P floor had a barely larger ADT at 4.22 psi, however the distinction between the 2 was minimal. Contributors rated each designs as impartial in usability however discovered them considerably constructive by way of stimulation high quality. Qualitative suggestions highlighted that members discovered the feeling nice, describing it as “easy” and “soothing.”
The outcomes point out that this new method might have some benefits over current alert mechanisms, however earlier than it may be deployed, the inflation system must be made rather more compact and sensible. After which the query arises — if such a alert turns into widespread, will it simply fade into the background like the remainder?