APA
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Maimon, A., Wald, I., Keppel, J., Chang, E., Kitamura, Y., Schneegass, S., … Degraen, D. (2026). Tactile Search: Enhancing Targeting in 3D Space. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.
Chicago/Turabian
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Maimon, Amber, I. Wald, J. Keppel, Eunhee Chang, Y. Kitamura, Stefan Schneegass, Rainer Malaka, and Donald Degraen. “Tactile Search: Enhancing Targeting in 3D Space.” International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (2026).
MLA
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Maimon, Amber, et al. “Tactile Search: Enhancing Targeting in 3D Space.” International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, 2026.
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{amber2026a,
title = {Tactile Search: Enhancing Targeting in 3D Space},
year = {2026},
journal = {International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality},
author = {Maimon, Amber and Wald, I. and Keppel, J. and Chang, Eunhee and Kitamura, Y. and Schneegass, Stefan and Malaka, Rainer and Degraen, Donald}
}
Visual search is crucial in daily life, from scanning for relevant information to spotting signs of danger. When sensory channels are overloaded or degraded, cognitive tasks can be supported by crossmodal information representations through vibrotactile cues. We introduce Tactile Search, an approach that uses modulation of frequency and amplitude of vibrations to the hands, for guiding attention to the location of objects in 3D space. We evaluated this approach in a competitive VR game where participants searched for targets using both vision and touch. Across two studies - an in-the-wild demonstration $(\mathrm{n}=55)$ and a controlled laboratory experiment $(\mathrm{n}=28)$ - we found that vibrotactile feedback significantly improved performance and increased user confidence. In the combined haptic condition, performance did not differ across target heights. We further analyzed participants' subjective experiences and search strategies highlighting the benefits of the tactile cues. Our findings suggest that Tactile Search can enhance interaction and provide design considerations for integrating haptic search into interactive systems.