Exploring Presentation Timing Through Haptic Notifications
The strict time constraints imposed on speakers and session chairs such as at a conference create the opportunity for a system that can discreetly deliver salience-tuned timing reminders. Such a system may be able to improve the quality of the time-scheduling tasks currently required of session chairs by making timing cues more private, consistent, and perceptible to speakers. As current haptic solutions are promising in these respects, we have created a wireless wrist-mountable timing system that delivers vibrotactile reminders at specified time intervals. The reminders are customizable in form and interval, and we provide options for how to acknowledge the reminders and when to interrupt. Once configured, the reminders are fully automated but easily canceled. Session chairs can join this private network by wearing a similar device, experiencing the automated time reminders themselves while fully attending to the talk.