Haptic Foot Pedal: Influence of Shoe Type, Age, and Gender on Subjective Pulse Perception
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Summary
This study investigates how shoe type, age, and gender influence the subjective perception of haptic pulse feedback delivered through a prototype accelerator pedal. Haptic feedback is proposed as a less distracting alternative to visual and auditory warnings in vehicles, but its effectiveness depends on the driver’s ability to perceive the signal clearly and comfortably. While previous research indicated that footwear stiffness and age-related sensory decline could affect haptic perception, no study had evaluated the combined effects of shoe type, age, and gender in a realistic driving context. The authors hypothesized that thicker, stiffer soles would negatively impact perception, that older age would reduce sensitivity, and that females would perceive intensity more strongly than males. The experiment involved 36 participants distributed across three age groups (≤39, 40–59, and ≥60 years) and both genders. Participants tested a haptic pedal prototype installed in a stationary but running Range Rover. They wore either sneakers (thin, flexible soles) or safety boots (thick, stiff soles) in a counterbalanced design. Sixteen distinct haptic pulses, varying in force amplitude (7–18 Newtons) and duration (20–1000 milliseconds), were presented while participants depressed the pedal. After each pulse, participants rated the feedback on intensity (1–5 scale), comfort (1–7 scale), and urgency (1–7 scale). Data analysis utilized mixed-model ANOVA and t-tests, with comfort ratings normalized using a "balanced comfort" z-score to account for individual rating strategies. Results indicated that shoe type had no significant effect on the perception of haptic feedback, contradicting earlier findings that stiff soles reduce noticeability. However, age and gender significantly influenced perception. Females consistently rated pulse intensity higher and missed fewer pulses than males across all settings. Regarding age, while no main effect was found, significant interaction effects revealed that the youngest (≤39) and oldest (≥60) groups perceived short-duration pulses (20 ms and 33 ms) differently; younger participants rated these short pulses as more intense than older participants. Additionally, the oldest age group missed a higher percentage of pulses overall. Comfort ratings showed an inverse relationship with intensity, with high-intensity pulses rated as less comfortable. Females found short-duration pulses more comfortable than males but rated long-duration pulses less comfortably. The findings suggest that haptic pedal design must account for demographic differences, particularly age and gender, to ensure warnings are both noticeable and comfortable. The lack of shoe-type influence implies that haptic feedback may be robust across common footwear variations, provided the pulse parameters are optimized. The study highlights the need for adaptive haptic systems that adjust to individual driver characteristics, such as age-related sensory changes, to maintain effective non-visual communication in vehicle safety systems.
Key finding
Shoe type did not significantly influence the perception of haptic pedal feedback, but age and gender significantly affected how pulse duration and force amplitude were perceived in terms of intensity and comfort.
Methodology
lab_experiment
Sample size: 36
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via author_sweep_intake on 2026-05-28.
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-06 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-28 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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