Understanding Latency Sensitivity in Thermal and Tactile Feedback for Multimodal Haptics in VR

Abstract

Low-latency multimodal feedback is essential for maintaining a high-quality user experience in VR; however, unpredictable network conditions can introduce latency that negatively impacts user experience. This work investigates how users perceive multimodal haptic feedback - specifically thermal (hot/cold) and tactile stimuli - and how latency in such feedback affects user experience. We first measured users' response times for thermal, tactile, and combined thermal-tactile stimuli. Subsequently, we conducted a psychophysical study to identify delay thresholds for each modality by examining temporal congruency between visual and haptic cues. We designed a haptic delay network simulator to emulate a realistic network environment. Results highlighted that combined thermal-tactile feedback has higher latency tolerance than thermal-only feedback, indicating that multimodal integration can buffer the negative effects of latency. Using these thresholds, we designed controlled latency conditions and assessed user experience. Based on our findings, we propose design recommendations for haptic data transmission in networked VR systems.