The aim of this course is to introduce students to the potential of the haptic modality, provide information of how to apply haptics in both unimodal and multimodal contexts, and to utilize haptics in interaction design.

Contents of the course

See Teaching Schedule. The working language of the course is English. Moodle is used for distributing and submitting materials during the course.

Teaching

The course can be taken in two forms: 5 ECTS  or 10 ECTS.

Requirements for 5 ECTS (period III):

• Exam
• Exercise groups

Requirements for 10 ECTS (periods III & IV):

• Exam
• Exercise groups
• Writing a course paper OR designing and implementing a haptic interface

Lectures

The course contains 12 hours of lectures. The lectures are held on Tuesdays at 10-12 in Pinni B3107, starting on 9.1.2018. The lectures will carry on until 13.2.2018.

Exercises

The course also contains 12 hours of weekly exercises that are held in two groups. Choose one that fits your schedule:

• Wednesdays at 12-14 in Pinni B3109
• Thursdays at 12-14 in Pinni B1083

The exercises are organized to provide hands-on access to haptic interaction. If possible, please bring your own laptop to the exercises. Other equipment will be provided by the course organizers. Starting from week 2, there will be a required reading task that should be completed before attending the exercise group. The reading task (typically scientific papers) will help in understanding the topic of the exercise.

Active participation in exercise groups will be rewarded with points as follows:

• Completing a reading task and participating in a group: 1 point per week
• Only participating in a group: 0.5 points per week

If you are unable to attend an exercise group but would like to get 0.5 points from the reading task, you can write a one-page summary of the scientific paper. Explain in your own words the main findings/concepts of the paper. Submit your summary in Moodle before the Wednesday’s exercise group.

Examination

The exam will cover both the lectures and reading material given during the course.

Course paper

The first option for those willing to pass the course with more credit points (10 ETCS) is to write a course paper. The paper can focus, for example, on designing a haptic interaction method or application, or presenting an extensive review on some relevant topic. The minimum length of the paper is 10 pages (without title page and references). The papers are written in English. The papers are required to follow the thesis template given in the course.

Practical implementation

The second option to get 10 ECTS is to design and implement a haptic interaction technique using the knowledge gained during the course lectures and exercises. The implementation can focus, for example, on haptic notifications, guidance information, touchscreen feedback, interpersonal messages, or haptic alerts. The implementation must also be documented but five pages of text is sufficient.

Materials

Materials will be distributed via Moodle.