PathFinder: Haptic Wrist Guidance for Ambiguous Pedestrian Routes

Abstract

Pedestrian navigation systems commonly rely on visual guidance, but such guidance may divide attention during walking. Haptic guidance has been proposed as an eyes-free alternative, yet its effectiveness across different outdoor environments remains unclear. We report a within-subjects field study comparing minimal visual arrow guidance and wrist-worn haptic guidance across urban and non-urban pedestrian routes. Fourteen participants completed navigation tasks in both modalities and both environments using a custom Android system integrating smartphone GPS/GNSS and compass input with Bluetooth-connected wrist-worn haptic devices. Performance was assessed using average speed, route deviation, and completion time; subjective measures included the NASA-TLX and a haptic experience questionnaire. Data were analyzed using 2 × 2 repeated-measures aligned rank transform (ART) ANOVA, testing the main effects of Mode, Environment, and their interaction. Environment had a strong effect on average speed, and a significant Mode × Environment interaction indicated that modality differences depended on environmental context. Visual guidance produced lower route deviation and shorter completion times overall, whereas haptic guidance was associated with higher mental demand. Haptic experience ratings did not differ significantly across environments. These findings suggest that pedestrian navigation performance is shaped by both interface modality and environmental context, and that the benefits of haptic guidance are not uniform across settings. The results highlight the importance of ecologically valid, context-sensitive evaluation of navigation interfaces.

Keywords: Multimodal Interaction, Vibrotactile Feedback, Directional Haptic Guidance, Eyes-Free Navigation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008110