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A Comparison of resistive and capacitive touchscreens for use within vehicles
Abstract
Vehicles are increasingly utilising technologies developed in non-automotive domains. In this respect, capacitive touchscreens are familiar to smartphone and tablet computer users enabling a wide range of single and multi-touch gestures, but have not been considered fully in a driving context. A simulator study was conducted aiming to understand the visual distraction of different touchscreens in vehicles. Twenty participants drove two routes whilst undertaking a range of secondary tasks using either a traditional resistive touchscreen or a capacitive touchscreen. Results indicated a range of benefits for capacitive touchscreens in this context. Objectively, participants took less time to complete tasks with the capacitive touchscreen when compared to the resistive touchscreen. In addition, they made less glances and spent less overall time glancing towards the in-vehicle display in this condition. Finally, there was evidence for reduced lane position variability with the capacitive touchscreen on specific tasks. Subjectively, drivers overwhelmingly preferred the capacitive touchscreen over the resistive touchscreen, rating it to be relatively higher in quality and easier to manipulate, especially while driving. The conclusions highlight the importance of optimising in-vehicle interfaces for use in the safety-critical driving situation.
... Examples of comparisons between touchscreen technologies for automotive applications are limited. Burnett et al. [14] compared capacitive and resistive touchscreens in a driving simulator-based study using a number of different input and manipulation tasks. Their findings identified a reduction in task times for the capacitive display, with a higher number of long glances (>2 seconds duration) made when using the resistive screen. ...
... The main issue was a lack of responsiveness from the display which was both interpreted as added latency, and caused repeated errors for tasks that involved 'drag' gestures, such as playlist and contact list scrolling. The latter aspect was also identified by Burnett et al. [14] and Lee & Zhai [21] as an issue with resistive touchscreens. ...
Touchscreen interfaces are increasingly used on a daily basis in both mobile devices and in cars. The majority of vehicles use resistive touchscreens which, while reliable and inexpensive, may not perform as well as alternative touchscreen technologies. A simulator-based user-centred study was conducted to compare the User Experience of resistive touchscreens against capacitive and infra-red variants in a range of automotive use cases. This paper details an initial treatment of the data focusing on touchscreen task performance and subjective usability measures. Findings identified that the resistive display was clearly least preferred, with capacitive offering the best overall performance.
Tests that depend on changes in color are commonly used in biosensing. Here, we report on a colorimetric reader for such applications. The device is simple to construct and operate, making it ideal for research laboratories with limited resources or skilled personnel. It consists of a commercial multispectral sensor interfaced with a Raspberry Pi and a touchscreen. Unlike camera-based readers, this instrument requires no calibration of wavelengths by the user or extensive image processing to obtain results. We demonstrate its potential for colorimetric biosensing by applying it to the birefringent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was able to prevent certain false positives that the assay is susceptible to and lowered its limit of detection for glucose by an order of magnitude.
Physical and digital controls are the bridge between the user and a medical device or system. This chapter addresses the fundamentals of effective physical and digital control design from a human factors engineering (HFE) perspective. It begins with a discussion of six control design guidelines widely researched and implemented across medical and nonmedical domains. Then, it presents a HFE perspective on several topics with respect to control design, including responsiveness, travel, size, placement, movement, and feedback. The chapter concludes with guidelines and recommendations specific to touchscreen controls.
Although many studies have been conducted on the human factors and ergonomics (HFE) of touchscreens, no comprehensive review has summarized the findings of these studies. Based on a schema (three dimensions of understanding critical for successful display selection) presented by Wickens et al. (2004), we identified three dimensions of analysis for touchscreen implementations: touchscreen technology, setting and environment of implementation, and user population. We conducted a systematic review based on the PRISMA protocol (Moher et al., 2009), searching five article databases for relevant quantitative literature on touchscreens. We found that all three dimensions of analysis have a significant effect on the HFE of touchscreens, and that a selection for or against touchscreens must take into consideration the specific context of system interaction in order to maximize safety, performance, and user satisfaction. Our report concludes with a set of specific recommendations for systems designers considering touchscreens as input/output devices, and suggestions for future study into the HFE of touchscreens.
The human machine interface (HMI) system of a vehicle is made up of a number of input and output devices that work in harmony to allow the driver to access a number of features and functions. The HMI of motor vehicles has evolved slowly up until the late 1990s when the first automation systems (e.g., Cruise Control) and touch screens were introduced. Since then, the amount of technologies being introduced into the car, especially over the last few years has sky-rocketed. Of these technologies none can be considered more challenging than that of the move towards vehicle automation. Given this push, new ways of interaction with the vehicle will be needed. In this paper we present two new innovative HMI techniques that will be key to addressing this challenge, namely brain-computer interfaces (BCI’s) and ambient display technology aimed to make the driver (or passenger) interaction less demanding and more intuitive.
In general, the unsafe conditions that are likely to produce a motor vehicle crash reside not at the mean of a given distribution (in other words, under typical conditions), but rather in the tails of the distribution. For example, an unusually slow response to a traffic obstacle, rather than an average response, may result in a collision. Although that situation means that crashes are the exception and not the norm, it has implications for how safety-critical data are approached and handled. In this current paper, experimental data collected in a driving simulator are used to demonstrate how an analysis of the average glance durations to an in-vehicle display might lead to different conclusions about safety compared, vith an alternative analysis of the tail end of the distribution. In addition, a model of crash risk based on the distribution of in-vehicle glances is described, as well as several characteristics of the traffic environment.
The introduction of a new generation of attractive touch screen-based devices raises many basic usability questions whose answers may influence future design and market direction. With a set of current mobile devices, we conducted three experiments focusing on one of the most basic interaction actions on touch screens: the operation of soft buttons. Issues investigated in this set of experiments include: a comparison of soft button and hard button performance; the impact of audio and vibrato-tactile feedback; the impact of different types of touch sensors on use, behavior, and performance; a quantitative comparison of finger and stylus operation; and an assessment of the impact of soft button sizes below the traditional 22 mm recommendation as well as below finger width.
A driving simulator experiment was conducted to determine the effects of entering addresses into a navigation system during driving. Participants drove on roads of varying visual demand while entering addresses. Three address entry methods were explored: word-based speech recognition, character-based speech recognition, and typing on a touch-screen keyboard. For each method, vehicle control and task measures, glance timing, and subjective ratings were examined. During driving, word-based speech recognition yielded the shortest total task time (15.3 s), followed by character-based speech recognition (41.0 s) and touch-screen keyboard (86.0 s). The standard deviation of lateral position when performing keyboard entry (0.21 m) was 60% higher than that for all other address entry methods (0.13 m). Degradation of vehicle control associated with address entry using a touch screen suggests that the use of speech recognition is favorable. Speech recognition systems with visual feedback, however, even with excellent accuracy, are not without performance consequences. Applications of this research include the design of in-vehicle navigation systems as well as other systems requiring significant driver input, such as E-mail, the Internet, and text messaging.
The auto industry is facing tough competition and severe economic constraints. Their products need to be designed "right the first time" with the right combinations of features that not only satisfy the customers but continually please and delight them by providing increased functionality, comfort, convenience, safety, and craftsmanship. Based on the author's forty plus years of experience as a human factors researcher, engineer, manager, and teacher who has conducted numerous studies and analyses, Ergonomics in the Automotive Design Process covers the entire range of ergonomics issues involved in designing a car or truck and provides evaluation techniques to avoid costly mistakes and assure high customer satisfaction. The book begins with the definitions and goals of ergonomics, historic background, and ergonomics approaches. It covers human characteristics, capabilities, and limitations considered in vehicle design in key areas such as anthropometry, biomechanics, and human information processing. It then examines how the driver and the occupants are positioned in the vehicle space and how package drawings and/or computer-aided design models are created from key vehicle dimensions used in the automobile industry. The author describes design tools used in the industry for occupant packaging, driver vision, and applications of other psychophysical methods. He covers important driver information processing concepts and models and driver error categories to understand key considerations and principles used in designing controls, displays, and their usages, including current issues related to driver workload and driver distractions. The author has included only the topics and materials that he found to be useful in designing car and truck products and concentrated on the ergonomic issues generally discussed in the automotive design studios and product development teams. He distills the information needed to be a member of an automotive product development team and create an ergonomically superior vehicle.
As part of the HASTE European Project, effects of visual and cognitive demand on driving performance and driver state were systematically investigated by means of artificial, or surrogate, In-vehicle Information Systems (S-IVIS). The present paper reports results from simulated and real motorway driving. Data were collected in a fixed base simulator, a moving base simulator and an instrumented vehicle driven in real traffic. The data collected included speed, lane keeping performance, steering wheel movements, eye movements, physiological signals and self-reported driving performance. The results show that the effects of visual and cognitive load affect driving performance in qualitatively different ways. Visual demand led to reduced speed and increased lane keeping variation. By contrast, cognitive load did not affect speed and resulted in reduced lane keeping variation. Moreover, the cognitive load resulted in increased gaze concentration towards the road centre. Both S-IVIS had an effect on physiological signals and the drivers’ assessment of their own driving performance. The study also investigated differences between the three experimental settings (static simulator, moving base simulator and field). The results are discussed with respect to the development of a generic safety test regime for In-vehicle Information Systems.
Designers of in-vehicle computing systems must consider which input devices are most suitable for use in the safety-critical driving situation. This paper describes a study aiming to establish which tasks are best supported by an in-vehicle touchpad system. Eighteen participants (50:50 right/left handed) drove three routes in a right-hand drive simulator while following a lead vehicle at a perceived safe distance. At specific points, participants were asked to carry out seven tasks of varying qualities using a prototype touchpad system, a touchscreen or a rotary controller interface. Results indicated that participants were most negative (in terms of preferences and performance) with the rotary controller interface. Conversely, the results for the touchpad versus the touchscreen interfaces were clearly task dependent. For instance, with the touchpad, subjective opinions and objective performance were most positive for tasks in which simple commands enabled drivers to bypass the need for complex menu interactions (e.g. changing the interior temperature). In contrast, results for the touchscreen were evidently superior for simple menu selection tasks (e.g. selecting a preset radio station). Conclusions are drawn regarding the nature of tasks that are best suited to alternative input devices within vehicles and the potential for a touchpad/touchscreen solution.
The transfer of tactical aviation technology into automobiles is creating information display requirements that are likely to be met by use of the head-up display (HUD). These developments are based largely on conclusions that the HUD-related safety issues raised in the aviation HUD literature can be dismissed and that the benefits of using HUDs are certain. Such conclusions either neglect relevant research or are supported by a very small amount of evidence, much of which is either irrelevant or generated within a flawed methodological paradigm. This critical review covers the issues of (a) HUD focal distance and its effect on the perception of outside objects and (b) the effects of HUD imagery on visual attention. The issues of focal distance, cognitive capture, and the inherent connection between the two may have a greater impact on safety in the automotive context than they do in aviation.
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