The objective of this study is the evaluation of a new vibrotactile device. This device is used to lead a pedestrian in city and public transport. We have developed a virtual reality scenario to assess the objective and subjective utility of the device. The results showed that the device could properly guide users. We also evaluated the usefulness of a warning vibration before the vibration message itself and it turns out that the vibration seems to bring confusion in the vibration pattern recognition by the user.
In a large city, public transport offer is very wide –buses, subways, trams, bicycles, electric car– making the transportation network more and more complex. To address this complexity and facilitate the movement of public transport users, information systems are available in many ways as signs and information boards or mobile devices applications. However, systems to assist pedestrian mostly offer visual cues sometimes combined with sound interaction. The need for information concerning the pedestrian activity can lead to overload these sensory modalities, might make it difficult to collect information during the displacement. The problem is ever more serious if the user is not familiar with the transport system, or if he never made ??the course.
These observations lead us to consider the development of a new way to interact with the navigation aid system. Our objective is to develop a multimodal device, which is the use of haptic modality to help pedestrians to move around the city and public transport.
