The Flying Parrot

“Multimodal Interaction and Interfaces” at KTH

This study investigates the effectiveness of haptic feedback compared to auditory feedback as a navigation cue in a gesture-based mobile game. To explore this, a mobile game was developed in Unity, where players navigate through a path using positive and negative feedback cues in three different conditions:

• Haptic feedback
• Auditory feedback
• Combined haptic-auditory feedback

Gameplay & Study Design

• Motion-Based Controls – Players navigate by tilting the phone, utilizing the device’s accelerometer.
• Pilot Study (11 Participants) – Identified the most intuitive haptic and auditory cues for the game.
• User Study (10 Participants) – Each participant played the game in all three feedback conditions, in random order.
• Evaluation Metrics – After each session, participants completed: System Usability Scale (SUS), immersion questionnaire & three interview questions.

Key Findings

• Performance – No significant difference in game scores across the three conditions.
• Player Preferences – Participants had strong individual preferences, but opinions were evenly distributed across conditions.
• Usability & Immersion – No significant difference in usability ratings or perceived immersion between feedback modalities.

This study contributes insights into haptic vs. auditory feedback for mobile navigation, showing that while performance remains unaffected, user preference plays a key role in perception and experience.

Other team members: Guðrún Margrét Ívansdóttir, Hallbjörg Embla Sigtryggsdóttir and María Ómarsdóttir.