Phlebotomists do it better: Exploring soft interaction in the medical domain

Abstract

ForceForm is a dynamically deformable interactive surface in which lumps and indents can be created, and feels soft to the touch. In this paper, we present a study to explore users' ability to identify different levels of firmness generated in the soft surface of ForceForm. Our results show that those with medical training, in this case phlebotomists, perform the task with significantly better accuracy than those without a medical background and those without a medical background can achieve an accuracy similar to the medical group with five to six repeats of the experiment. We outline possible directions for future work given these results