VibViz

Tool Summary

Metadata
Release Yearⓘ The year a tool was first publicly released or discussed in an academic paper.	2015
Platformⓘ The OS or software framework needed to run the tool.	Web
Availabilityⓘ If the tool can be obtained by the public.	Available
Licenseⓘ Tye type of license applied to the tool.	Open Source (BSD 3-Clause)
Venueⓘ The venue(s) for publications.	IEEE WHC
Intended Use Caseⓘ The primary purposes for which the tool was developed.	Prototyping

Hardware Information
Categoryⓘ The general types of haptic output devices controlled by the tool.	Vibrotactile
Abstractionⓘ How broad the type of hardware support is for a tool. Bespoke: Hardware is custom built, including open hardware. Consumer: Support is limited to a specific commercial device or a family of devices. Class: Any device with the same affordances can be used, possibly with some configuration required.	Class
Device Namesⓘ The hardware supported by the tool. This may be incomplete.	Voice Coil
Device Templateⓘ Whether support can be easily extended to new types of devices.	No
Body Positionⓘ Parts of the body where stimuli are felt, if the tool explicitly shows this.	N/A

Interaction Information
Driving Featureⓘ If haptic content is controlled over time, by other actions, or both.	Time
Effect Localizationⓘ How the desired location of stimuli is mapped to the device. Device-centric: No spatial information is taken into acccount. Actuators are directly controlled. Target-centric: Stimuli are placed on the body or are assigned to a virtual object to be triggered through interaction. The tool handles how the device will display the effect. Location-aware: The desired location of an effect is taken into account to some extent, but is ultimately presented in context of the output device.	Device-centric
Non-Haptic Mediaⓘ Support for non-haptic media in the workspace, even if just to aid in manual synchronization.	None
Iterative Playbackⓘ If haptic effects can be played back from the tool to aid in the design process.	Yes
Design Approachesⓘ Broadly, the methods available to create a desired effect. Direct parametric control (DPC): low-level parameters are directly modifiable. Process: parameters are controllable by an abstract process. Sequencing: reusable effects are ordered in time to create complex effects. Library: a library of pre-existing effects is available for use or re-use. Description: a natural language description of the experience is used to find an appropriate effect, often through searching a library.	Library, Description
UI Metaphorsⓘ Common UI metaphors that define how a user interacts with a tool. Track: a timeline represents an interactive channel containing effects. Keyframe: key points of the effect are set and behavior between them is interpolated. Score: an adaptation of a musical score or notation represents haptic effects. Dataflow: a dataflow programming model is used to control haptic output. Demonstration: physical actions or other data are mapped simply to effects or parameters. Generic Menu: typical GUI elements (e.g., sliders) are used to control effects with the absence of other metaphors.	Generic Menu
Storageⓘ How data is stored for import/export or internally to the software.	WAV
Connectivityⓘ How the tool can be extended to support new data, devices, and software.	None

Additional Information

VibViz is a library of vibrotactile effects and associated filtering and visualization tools to find elements within it. Each effect is associated with various tags representing emotions (“angry”), metaphors (“heartbeat”), and possible uses (“alarm”) that can be used to filter the library. Two chart visualizations lay out the effects by duration and signal RMS, and by pleasantness and urgency. Additional filters are available for selecting effects with a specific tempo, rhythm structure, and roughness. A complete list of the effects in the library is present showing each one’s metaphor and usage tags along with a visualization of intensity over time. Selected effects are played as audio outputs, allowing them to be displayed on a connected actuator.

For more information on VibViz, consult the 2015 World Haptics Conference paper, the VibViz website, and the GitHub repository.