Reaction Time with Different Types of Stimuli
Inspired by previous work, I designed a study to measure the reaction time impact of mixing audio, visual, and haptic stimuli.
(Image: A table of the different combinations of stimuli tested. Combinations of types of stimuli and intensities would play together.)
In the results of the previous study, we noticed that the intensity of vibration received appeared to affect subjects’ reaction times. I was intrigued by this and wanted to conduct a study to determine if this was true, and also explore how adding other types (auditory and visual) of stimuli would affect reaction time. I took full ownership of designing this study. I personally conducted a literature review, finding that the proposed aim was indeed novel and of interest to the haptics community. I modified the app I had created for the previous study on distraction to now provide combinations of visual, auditory and haptic stimuli. We found that higher intensities of stimuli and additions of stimuli both decrease reaction times. Interestingly, subjects tended to prefer lower-intensity stimuli. This paper informs design of human-computer interactions, especially in systems that seek to reduce reaction times. I am also the co-first author on this paper, and it was presented at the 2023 World Haptics Conference.
