Assessment of User Interpretation on Various

Vibration Signals in Mobile Phones

Nikko Marcelo C. Palomares, Giorgio B. Romero(&),

and Jean Louie A. Victor

Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research,

College of Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman,
Quezon City, Philippines
{ncpalomares,gbromero1,javictor}@up.edu.ph

Abstract. The study aims to identify the level of urgency of different vibration
patterns in mobile phones and the commonly perceived phone notification (e.g.
text message, phone call, emergency alert, etc.) associated with those patterns.
After gathering information regarding the device usage of the user, the
researchers collected the responses on perceived level of urgency and the most
associated message through a five-point rating scale and a questionnaire,
respectively. The gathered responses were summarized and analyzed in boxplot
diagrams, tables, and pie charts and were justified using the Kruskal-Wallis Test
and Fleiss’ Kappa. The results showed that the different patterns are perceived
differently, and respondents slightly agree to classify these patterns to different
message categories. Vibration patterns were also grouped by most associated
message type and level of urgency which can provide useful applications in
mobile phone features and applications.

Keywords: Mobile phone
Vibration
Perception
Haptic

1 Background of the Study

The adoption of the mobile phone has been a global phenomenon in recent years and
has dramatically changed people’s ability to communicate. Mobile phones can now
effectively interact with the three major human senses namely, vision, touch, and
hearing [1]. Information (e.g. text message, phone call, etc.) is received in a form of a
notification. The most commonly-used form of notification is audio notification but, in
many situations, it may be inaudible due to external factors and unsuitable to some
environments as it may disturb others. As an alternative to audio output, tactile output,
such as vibration, is used to inform the user [2]. Providing alerts through vibration
pulses has been a widely-used output mechanism and an important functionality in
mobile phones. It became an essential information conveyor as it can notify the user
privately [3]. It becomes more useful especially when the user’s auditory and visual
senses are overwhelmed or in some cases, absent. Vibration signals can represent
different kinds of notification particularly in communication-related applications.
However, most of the time, the same vibration signals are used in some incoming
messages when the mobile phone is in silent mode [4].

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

H. Ayaz (Ed.): AHFE 2019, AISC 953, pp. 500–511, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20473-0_49
 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 501

1.1 Rationale
The Philippines is the fastest-growing smartphone market in Southeast Asia to date. In
addition to this, the smartphone users in the country will hit 90 million in 2021 from the
current 40 million, as predicted by the Ericsson Mobility Report [5]. According to
previous studies [4], 80% of mobile phone users are in silent and vibrate mode and at
least 54% of the population with disabilities (e.g. blindness, deafness, etc.) in urban
areas use a cell phone or a smartphone [6]. It is important to study about haptic
technology, particularly vibrations, since the users mentioned above heavily rely on
them when receiving messages and reminders. Misinterpretation of vibration signals in
mobile phones can result to missed calls, unattended urgent matters, or wrong infor-
mation perceived. However, when these signals are used properly, applications of
vibration in mobile phones decrease mental workload of users and increase perceived
usefulness of the device [7].

2 Objectives of the Study

The study aims to identify the level of urgency and the commonly perceived message
associated with various vibration patterns in mobile phones.

3 Methodology

A total of 15 participants with ages 19–25 took part in the experiment. Studies have
shown that there occurs a decline in the main sensory modalities such as touch sen-
sation with advancing age [4, 8–10]. This age group was chosen due to its easy
accessibility and better sensory modalities than higher age groups. The experiment was
done inside a closed room and participants were asked to sit and to wear earphones to
eliminate unwanted noise [3, 11].
Respondents answered a survey form that collects information regarding their
name, age, year level, and course. Information regarding their mobile phone model in
use and the frequentness (in hours) in a day their phone is in silent and vibrate mode
was also gathered [12].
There were 10 vibration patterns used which are proven to be distinguishable by
previous studies [8]. These patterns were felt in two scenarios: the first being the pattern
played once, and the second being played over 4.5 s (looped). In total, there were 20
different vibration patterns felt by each respondent. A vibration pattern is a sequence of
the on and off state of the phone’s vibration motor, with specific lengths (short and
long) assigned to each state. The vibration and gap length were limited to 200 ms for
short (s) and 600 ms for long (l) [4]. The capital letter (S or L) signifies the length of the
on state, while the small letter (s or l) signifies the length of the off state.
Participants were asked to feel the 20 vibration patterns through a mobile device
with an application that allows custom vibration settings. The mobile phone was placed
inside the trousers pocket because it is where mobile devices are commonly placed
[13]. Only one mobile device was used for all respondents so that the device weight
502 N. M. C. Palomares et al.

and vibration frequency are constant [3]. The order in which the vibration patterns are
felt and the length at which it is played were randomized to satisfy the needed
assumption that pattern perception by a respondent is independent from (or not affected
by) his or her perception of the other patterns as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Randomized pattern sequence

Pattern number Sequence Repetition
1 L-l-S-l Over 4.5s
2 L-s-L-l Over 4.5s
3 L-s-L-l Once
4 S-s-S-l Over 4.5s
5 L-s-S-s Once
6 S-s-S-l Once
7 S-s-L-l Once
8 L-l-S-l Once
9 L-s-S-l Once
10 S-s Over 4.5s
11 L-l Once
12 S-l Once
13 L-s-S-l Over 4.5s
14 S-s Once
15 L-s Once
16 L-s Over 4.5s
17 L-s-S-s Over 4.5s
18 L-l Over 4.5s
19 S-s-L-l Over 4.5s
20 S-l Over 4.5s

To identify the perceived level of urgency, a five-point rating scale was used where
ordinal numbers are assigned to each level of urgency as enumerated below.

0 - Not Detected 3 - High Priority

1 - Insignificant 4 - Emergency/Urgent
2 - Low Priority

A five-point rating scale was used because a study showed that users can distin-
guish at least four levels of urgency based on the design of the vibration patterns that
was used [4]. In addition to the rating scale, a questionnaire was answered by the
participants to identify what message was most associated with each vibration pattern -
phone call, text message, app notification/update, alarm clock, low battery, emergency
alert, and others as shown in Appendix A. The researchers recorded the responses first
before playing the next vibration pattern.
 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 503

Data Analysis. The descriptive statistics of the responses were summarized in tables,
boxplot diagrams, and pie charts to identify any observable insights from these dia-
grams. For the statistical analysis, Kruskal-Wallis Test was used because the
assumptions of a One-Way ANOVA were not met and the data gathered was ordinal.
It was done to determine first if there is a statistically significant difference between
the independent variable (pattern) on an ordinal dependent variable (i.e. ratings).
Moreover, Fleiss’ Kappa was used to analyze the data on perceived level of
urgency and message association. This was done to determine the level of agreement
the respondents give which indicates the consistency of the results. If the agreement is
high, there is more confidence that the perceived level of urgency or the message
associated with the vibration patterns reflects the actual circumstance. In grouping the
patterns by rating and message, the mode was used to identify the most associated
rating and message per pattern.

4 Results and Discussion

Among the 15 respondents (7 male and 8 female), 10 of them have silent mode enabled
the whole day, while the average hours that their silent mode is enabled is 22.36 h.
Moreover, seven of them have vibrations enabled when silent mode is enabled. The
summary of the descriptive statistics per pattern is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Summary of descriptive statistics per vibration pattern

Pattern number Pattern Median Spread of Min Max
(randomized) variability
1 L-l-S-l (4.5) 3 1 2 4
2 L-s-L-l (4.5) 3 2 1 4
3 L-s-L-l (1) 2 2 1 3
4 S-s-S-l (4.5) 3 2 1 4
S L-s-S-s (1) 2 1 0 2
6 S-s-S-l (1) 2 1 0 2
7 S-s-L-l (1) 2 0 2 2
8 L-l-S-l (1) 2 0 2 2
9 L-s-S-l (1) 2 1 1 3
10 S-s (4.5) 4 1 3 4
11 L-l (1) 2 1 0 2
12 SJ(1) 1 0 0 1
13 L-s-S-l (4.5) 3 2 1 4
14 S-s (1) 1 1 0 2
16 L-s (1) 2 1 0 2
16 L-s (4.5) 3 1 2 4
17 L-s-S-s (4.5) 4 1 2 4
18 L-l (4.5) 3 1 2 4
19 S-s-L-l (4.5) 3 1 2 4
20 S-l (4.5) 2 2 0 4
504 N. M. C. Palomares et al.

Boxplots were used to show the shape of the distribution, central value, and its
variability. There were various trends that were observed based from the Boxplot
Diagram of Vibration Patterns found in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Boxplot diagram of vibration pattern

In Fig. 1, it is notable that Pattern 10 (S-s Loop) has the greatest number of ratings
of 3 or 4. This signifies that the pattern is perceived as the most urgent. Pattern 12 (S-l
Once) and 14 (S-s Once) were almost undetectable since their ratings only range from 0
to 1. Pattern 20 (S-l Loop), on the other hand, has the largest variability with whiskers
ranging from 0 to 4. This means that the perception of this pattern greatly varies, thus
may not be an ideal pattern for a specific purpose. Figure 2 shows the common
messages associated per rating using a boxplot.

Fig. 2. Boxplot diagram of messages associated

 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 505

In Fig. 2, it is apparent that emergency alert message has the greatest number of
ratings of 3 or 4. This means that this message is perceived as the most urgent.
However, it can be observed that alarm and low battery have a high range. This means
that respondents have a varying perceived level of urgency towards those messages.
Kruskal-Wallis Test. The null hypothesis in the Kruskal-Wallis test states that all the
means are equal, meaning that patterns were not perceived differently. In analyzing the
data using Kruskal-Wallis Test, it was found that the p-value is 0.003678. Since it is
lower than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, the patterns are, indeed,
perceived differently. The vibration patterns have to be perceived differently because if
the user perception is the same for a number of vibration patterns, there would be no
further analysis.
To identify the most associated rating and message per pattern, the mode for each
pattern was determined and is summarized in Table 3. However, the variability of these
ratings, as shown in the boxplot in Fig. 1, must be taken into consideration as well.
Patterns with a high interquartile range means that the perception of this pattern varies
and would not be an ideal pattern to use for a specific purpose.

Table 3. Most associated rating and message per pattern

Pattern number Most associated rating Most associated message
(randomized)
1 High Priority Phone Call and text
2 Low or High Priority Phone Call
3 Low Priority Text
4 High Priority Alarm Clock
5 Low Priority Text & App Notification
6 Low Priority Text
7 Low Priority Text
8 Low Priority Text
9 Low Priority App Notification
10 Emergency/Urgent Emergency Alert
11 Low Priority App Notification
12 Insignificant App Notification
13 Emergency/Urgent Phone Call
14 Insignificant App Notification
15 Low Priority Text
16 High Priority Phone Call
17 Emergency/Urgent Alarm Clock
18 Emergency/Urgent Phone Call
19 High Priority Phone Call
20 Low Priority Alarm Clock

Fleiss’ Kappa Test. For the Fleiss’ Kappa Analysis for rating, the computed Kappa
statistic is 0.171. Therefore, there is evidence towards a slight agreement in classifying
506 N. M. C. Palomares et al.

patterns under the given ratings. It is likely that a pattern is assigned to a specific level
of urgency than by chance. Thus, the grouping of the patterns by rating is justified. The
test serves as a basis in grouping them by rating.
Meanwhile, in terms of the Fleiss’ Kappa analysis for the message type, it was
found out that the Kappa Statistic is 0.123. Therefore, there is evidence towards a slight
agreement that respondents classify patterns under a given category, rather than over
chance. Similar to the results of the first Fleiss’ Kappa test, the patterns are likely to be
assigned to a specific message. Thus, the grouping of of message by rating is justified.
The test serves as a basis in grouping them by rating.
The grouping of vibration patterns and messages by level of urgency was deter-
mined by summarizing all the responses in a pivot table and getting its highest per-
centage per rating as summarized in Tables 4 and 5.

Table 4. Grouping of patterns by level of urgency

Level of urgency Patterns
1 (Insignificant) 12 (S-l Once)
14 (S-s Once)
2 (Low Priority) 2 (L-s-L-l Loop)
3 (L-s-L-l Once)
5 (L-s-S-s Once)
6 (S-s-S-s Once)
7 (S-s-L-l Once)
8 (L-l-S-l Once)
9 (L-s-S-l Once)
11 (L-l Once)
15 (L-s Once)
20 (S-l Loop)
3 (High Priority) 1 (L-l-S-l Loop)
2 (L-s-L-l Loop)
4 (S-s-S-l Loop)
16 (L-s Loop)
19 (S-s-L-l Loop)
4 (Emergency/Urgent) 10 (S-s Loop)
13 (L-s-S-l Loop)
17 (L-s-S-s Loop)
18 (L-l Loop)

In Table 4, it can be inferred that most vibration patterns played for over 4.5 s
(looped) were categorized under High Priority or Emergency/Urgent while vibration
patterns played once were categorized under Insignificant and Low Priority. Therefore,
as shown in Table 5, specific vibration patterns under High Priority or
Emergency/Urgent could be used for Alarm, Call and Emergency Alert and specific
vibration patterns under Insignificant and Low Priority could be used for App Notifi-
cation and Text. The complete breakdown of the components can be found in
Appendix B.
 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 507

Table 5. Grouping of messages by level of urgency

Level of urgency Messages
1 (Insignificant) App Notification (47.46%)
2 (Low Priority) Text (44.76%)
3 (High Priority) Alarm (27.94%) and Call (32.35%)
4 (Emergency/Urgent) Call (50.94%) and Emergency Alert (37.74%)

The Low Battery message was not included in the grouping of messages since it
was not associated most to any level of urgency. Pie charts were used to show the
percentage of messages that were associated to each level of urgency as shown in
Appendix B. The frequency of perceived ratings per message in percentage is also
summarized in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Frequency of ratings per message in percentage

Figure 3 shows the percentage of the perceived level of urgency per message. It is
observed that 97% of the responses perceived emergency alert as either high priority
(3) or urgent (4). Meanwhile, similar to the boxplot in Fig. 2, Alarms and Low Battery
has a more varying response in terms of level of urgency, which is divided among three
or four levels.

5 Conclusion

The study investigated 10 basic vibration patterns that were played in two instances -
the first being played once and the second being played over 4.5 s (looped). It was
found out that the vibration patterns are interpreted differently. Pattern 10 (S-s Loop)
508 N. M. C. Palomares et al.

was interpreted as the most urgent. In addition, the repetition of the pattern played a
factor in the perceived message of the vibration pattern. Vibrations played only once
were found to belong in the lowest rating, thus being the least urgent while looped
vibration patterns were most likely to be perceived as urgent. Some patterns, like
Pattern 20 (S-l loop), were found to have a high variety in rating and message inter-
pretations, thus these patterns are not recommended to be used in specific purposes.
The kind of message and the level of urgency can be slightly classified to certain
vibration patterns. The message perceived was also related to the level of urgency
perceived by the user. The emergency alert message had the highest ratings of 3 or 4
which makes it the most urgent perceived message. However, the low battery message
was not associated most to any level of urgency due to its high variability.

6 Recommendation

In general, mobile phone developers can use the classification of patterns by rating or
message as a basis in determining the appropriate vibration pattern for their application.
In terms of mobile phone applications, messaging applications should use longer
vibration lengths to signify the importance of text messages to the user. Moreover,
mobile applications should avoid using short repetitive vibrations on short bursts or
patterns similar to L-s-S-l as these patterns could be reserved for emergency situations
to avoid misinterpretation. Mobile phone manufacturers can set their emergency alert
vibration pattern to have short, fast, and repetitive on and off states. This can easily alert
the user that a disaster is reported near the area as this pattern is perceived as the most
urgent by most of the respondents, regardless whether the respondents have their
vibrations enabled or not. This is important especially in the Philippines, as the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) utilizes
emergency phone alerts in informing natural disaster alerts nationwide.
Groupings of vibration patterns per level of urgency was made as shown in Table 4
so people who wish to customize their vibration stimulation can have specific vibration
patterns to choose from for each level of urgency. Currently, there is no available
custom vibration application in iOS, while there are only limited options available on
Android. Since a user can have different priorities in their mobile phone applications,
having a customized vibration signal can greatly help the user in interpreting messages
through haptic feedback, thus reducing mental workload.
Further studies can also be explored that consider other factors such as varying
intensity, environment, and special populations. Particularly, for the special population
such as those visually impaired since they primarily rely on hearing or touching. Since
the study was done in a static environment, working on user perception on mobile
environments (i.e. while moving) or on open environments can be considered. Further
studies in assessing the difference in perception between people who have vibrations
enabled in their phone and people who have it disabled can also be explored.
 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 509

Acknowledgement. We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our adviser, Ma’am Alyssa
Jean Portus, who guided us through the entire duration of the study and gave us insights
regarding our research topic. To Jurel Yap and Charmine Cramales from the UP School of
Statistics, for providing us statistical assistance. To the developers of the Android application,
Good Vibrations, whose application has made this study possible by providing custom vibration
settings. Lastly, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our respondents, who made
our data analysis possible through the raw data that they have provided for us.

Appendix

Appendix A: Pattern Perception Questionnaire

510 N. M. C. Palomares et al.

Appendix B: Pie Chart of the Percentage of Message Associated Per

Level of Urgency
 Assessment of User Interpretation on Various Vibration Signals 511

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