1. The Horror of Vibrotactile
Stimulation
Carmen Branje
Ryerson - Centre for Learning Technology
University of Toronto - Dept of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering

2. Some of the People
• Dr. Deborah Fels
• Dr. Frank Russo
• Dr. Maria Karam
• Gabe Nespoli
• Graham Smith (Artist)
• Emily Price

9. Previous Work
• Previous work has shown that soundtracks can
influence physiological response to film.
(Thayer and Levenson 1983
1. no audio
2. calming documentary music
3. frightening music

10. Previous Work
• A considerable literature exists examining the
vibrotactile perceptual abilities of humans (e.g.,
Rothenberg & Verrillo, 1976; Schürmann,
Caetano, Hlushchuk, Jousmäki, & Hari, 2006;
Verrillo, 1992; Von Bekesy, 1959)
• Von Bekesy (1959) found that eight different
qualities of sound (pitch, loudness, volume,
roughness, direction, distance, on-and-off effects
and rhythm) all have vibrotactile equivalents.

11. Previous Work
• There are about 8-10 tactile “notes” within
the tactile range (Branje, 2008)
• Large contactors appears to increase
discrimination ability (Branje, 2008)
• Differences in timbre can experienced through
the tactile channel (Russo, 2008)

12. Previous Work
• Some of the emotional content music can be
conveyed through the tactile channel (Karam,
2008)
• The separation of audio signals onto multiple
vibrotactile channels is more effective at
expressing emotional content than using a
complete audio signal as vibrotactile stimuli.
(Karam, 2008)

13. Current Study
• Explore Emoti-Chair in an film setting
• ~60 hearing participants (artificially deafened)
• Measured Skin Conductance Levels
• Mixed Design
• Participants exposed to one audio condition
• Participants exposed to four film clips

14. Audio Conditions
1. Silence
2. Envelope Following Whitenoise
3. Vibrations Only
4. Audio Only
5. Vibrations Plus Audio

15. Video Clips
• 4 clips from popular horror films
used, within subject
• Two were “startling” clips
• Two were “suspenseful” clips

20. Conclusions
• Evidence presented suggests some of the
emotional content of the film sound is
conveyed through the Emoti-Chair
• Further investigation
– Different types of clips
– Novelty Effect / Longitudinal Effects
– Amplitude vs Frequency
– Deaf subjects

21. Thanks / Questions?