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In this paper, we present three field-based evaluations of a tactile land navigation system. In Experiment 1, we transition from a laboratory setting to rugged terrain used to train US Army soldier land navigation. Navigation in this challenging terrain requires careful attention to one's surroundings. Participants navigated 3 waypoints along 600 meters through heavily wooded terrain, using 1) map and compass, 2) standard alpha-numeric handheld GPS device, and 3) the tactile GPS system, while also responding to radio requests for information. Experiment 2 used the same challenging terrain during night operations, where participants must also search for live and silhouette targets, using 1) handheld GPS device, 2) head-mounted map-based GPS, and 3) the tactile GPS system. In addition to navigating, participants searched for silhouette and live (human) targets. Experiment 3 had participants navigate with 1) a commercial GPS arrow display, 2) the tactile GPS system, and 3) both together. We conclude that tactile navigation displays can be used in strenuous outdoor environments and can outperform visual displays under conditions of high cognitive and visual workload.

This in-traffic, field study examined the merit of using a car seat instrumented with tactile stimulation elements (tactors) to communicate directional information to a driver. A car seat fitted with an 8 times 8 matrix of tactors embedded in the seat pan was used to code eight different directions (the four cardinal and four oblique directions). With this seat mounted in a car, a field study was conducted under both smooth road and brick road vibratory conditions. The primary performance measures were directional accuracy and reaction time, measured under both alerted and simulated surprise conditions. Overall, the results show that the tactile chair seat provides a promising and robust method of providing directional information. The percentage of correct directional responses was very high (92 percent of all trials), and incorrect responses were typically just one location segment (45 degrees) off.