Tactile data entry for extravehicular activity

In the task-saturated environment of extravehicular activity (EVA), an astronaut's ability to leverage suit-integrated information systems is limited by a lack of options for data entry. In particular, bulky gloves inhibit the ability to interact with standard computing interfaces such as a mou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2011 IEEE World Haptics Conference pp. 305 - 310
Main Authors Adams, R. J., Olowin, A. B., Hannaford, B., Sands, O. S.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.06.2011
Subjects
Accelerometers
data entry performance
extravehicular activity
Fingers
Humans
Keyboards
NASA
space suit gloves
Tactile feedback
Tactile sensors
Target tracking
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Summary:In the task-saturated environment of extravehicular activity (EVA), an astronaut's ability to leverage suit-integrated information systems is limited by a lack of options for data entry. In particular, bulky gloves inhibit the ability to interact with standard computing interfaces such as a mouse or keyboard. This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation into a system that permits the space suit gloves themselves to be used as data entry devices. Hand motion tracking is combined with simple finger gesture recognition to enable use of a virtual keyboard, while tactile feedback provides touch-based context to the graphical user interface (GUI) and positive confirmation of keystroke events. In human subject trials, conducted with twenty participants using a prototype system, participants entered text significantly faster with tactile feedback than without (p = 0.02). The results support incorporation of vibrotactile information in a future system that will enable full touch typing and general mouse interactions using instrumented EVA gloves.
ISBN:9781457702990
1457702991
DOI:10.1109/WHC.2011.5945503