Improving tactile feedback during push switch operation using intelligible operating sound

Abstract

During push switch operation, tactile feedback is crucial in determining whether the operation will be successful. However, to enhance the tactile feedback and ensure usability, the actuation force should not increase. Herein, a method to improve tactile feedback during switch operation by designing the operating sound is proposed. In the first experiment, to investigate the acoustic characteristics of high feedback operating sound, participants evaluated recorded commercial push switch operating sounds through headphones using the semantic differential method. Results showed that the operating sound with a short decay time and high loudness value in the high-frequency band exhibited a highly intelligible impression. Furthermore, the push switch operation exhibited two sounds (push and release), whose contribution to the impression was determined based on their loudness. In the second experiment, participants evaluated their impressions when operating push switches, which comprised various combinations of operating sound volume and actuation force. Results showed that highly intelligible sound improved the tactile feedback. Moreover, it was found that considering the balance between the operating sound volume and actuation force is necessary to improve the switch operation feedback through the operating sound. These findings can aid in enhancing the feedback of devices that require switches with low actuation force due to design constraints.

Keywords

• switch sounds
• tactile feedback
• auditory
• combined stimuli
• sound quality evaluation