Frictional Widgets: Enhancing Touch Interfaces with Programmable Friction

Vincent Lévesque, Louise Oram, Karon MacLean, Andy Cockburn, Nicolas D. Marchuk, Dan Johnson, J. Edward Colgate and Michael A. Peshkin
CHI'11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vancouver, Canada, May 2011.

Abstract

Touch interactions occur through flat surfaces that lack the tactile richness of physical interfaces. We explore the design possibilities offered by augmenting touchscreens with programmable surface friction. Four exemplar applications - an alarm clock, a file manager, a game, and a text editor - demonstrate tactile effects that improve touch interactions by enhancing physicality, performance, and subjective satisfaction.

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