Lifetact: utilizing smartwatches as tactile heartbeat displays in video games

Erik Pescara, Alexander Wolpert, Matthias Budde, Andrea Schankin, Michael Beigl

Abstract: Wearables like smartwatches or fitness trackers are increasingly entering everyday life. This offers new and unexplored opportunities to use their unique features - like the ability to act as vibrotactile actuators - as interfaces in computer games to increase game immersion. Current tactile cues in games are mostly restricted to event based-feedback and practically exclusive to console gaming. This paper presents LifeTact, a system which informs players about remaining hit points through a tactile heartbeat. The Tactile heartbeat is emitted via existing wearables like smartwatches or fitness trackers. The system was implemented and evaluated in a between-subject study with gamers, who rated the system as innovative, beneficial to the user experience and immersive.