Mid-air Haptic Cursor for Physical Objects

We investigate whether mid-air tactile stimuli generated using ultrasonic arrays can be used as a haptic cursor for physical objects. We combined an ultrasonic array and an interactive haptic map into one setup. Evaluation with 15 participants showed that the method is efficient for guiding user hands to physical objects - miniatures of room equipment. The average error rate was 14.4%, and the best participant achieved a 5.1% error rate. Our in-depth analysis provided insights into issues of the method, like signal reflections and user-induced interference of problems with distinguishing physical objects that are too close.