A tactile interaction concept for in-car passenger infotainment systems

Berger, Melanie; Bernhaupt, Regina; Pfleging, Bastian · 2019 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1145/3349263.3351914

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Summary

This paper addresses the lack of dedicated interaction systems for car passengers, who are often neglected by driver-centric in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVIS). Current touchscreen interfaces present ergonomic challenges, including the need to hold arms outstretched, reduced accuracy due to vehicle motion, and potential motion sickness from looking at handheld devices. To mitigate these issues, the authors propose a tactile interaction concept using Absolute Indirect Touch (AIT) combined with haptic feedback. This approach aims to improve usability and user experience (UX) for passengers by decoupling the input device from the display, thereby allowing for comfortable, eyes-free interaction. The researchers developed a prototype IVIS using Unity 3D, featuring infotainment functions such as point-of-interest recommendations and entertainment options like movie playback. The system included a collaboration feature allowing passengers to share and rate content. Interaction was mediated through a remote control with a grid of haptic marks that mapped one-to-one with the screen layout, enabling users to feel the specific tile they were selecting. A user study was conducted with 18 participants (aged 23–57) in a parked mid-class car. Participants were paired and assigned to either front or rear seats (between-subject variable) while performing tasks in both entertainment and infotainment domains (within-subject variable). Tasks included finding media, locating points of interest, and sharing items with the other passenger. Results indicated high usability scores, with System Usability Scale (SUS) averages of 76.4 for infotainment and 80.1 for entertainment, both falling within the "good to excellent" range. User experience ratings via the AttrakDiff questionnaire were excellent across hedonic, pragmatic, and aesthetic dimensions. While no significant differences were found between the two domains, sharing multiple items took significantly longer (mean 2.08 minutes) and required higher cognitive effort than sharing single items (mean 1.03 minutes). Qualitative feedback revealed that two-thirds of participants would use the system in their own vehicles, citing the consistent design and ease of use of the remote control as positive factors. The study concludes that AIT with tactile feedback is a promising interaction method for passenger infotainment, offering a comfortable and usable alternative to direct touchscreens. The findings suggest that this concept can effectively support both entertainment and collaborative infotainment tasks. The authors note that future work should compare this approach against other common automotive interaction methods and explore embedding the remote control into fixed car locations to further reduce driver distraction and enhance safety in automated driving scenarios.

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

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• infotainment
• haptic feedback
• control interfaces
• voice interaction
• in vehicle displays

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: design guidelines