HapticPalmrest: Haptic Feedback through the Palm for the Laptop Keyboard

Abstract

Programmable haptic feedback on touchscreen keyboards enriches user experiences but is hard to realize for physical keyboards because this requires individually augmenting each key with an actuator. As an alternative approach, we propose HapticPalmrest, where haptic feedback for a physical keyboard is provided to the palms. This is particularly feasible for a laptop environment, where users usually rest their palms while interacting with the keyboard. To verify the feasibility of the approach, we conducted two user studies. The first study showed that at least one palm was on palmrest for more than 90% of key interaction time. The second study showed a vibration power of 1.17 g (peak-to-peak) and a duration of 4 ms was sufficient for reliable perception of palmrest vibrations during keyboard interaction. We finally demonstrated the potential of such an approach by designing Dwell+ Key, an application that extends the function of each key by enabling timed dwelling operations.