数码时代下的产品触觉研究:新主题和新方向

Product Touch Research in the Digital Age: New Themes and New Directions

作为一个新兴研究领域,产品触觉研究在21世纪初涌现。随着过去20年商业实践中触觉技术的更新和各类触觉媒介的出现,消费者面临的触摸决策已不是简单触摸还是不触摸产品,而是触摸哪一媒介(如平板vs.鼠标),怎样触摸(如优势手vs.非优势手,点击vs.滑动),在哪触摸(如纸上vs.屏幕上)等。可以说,数码时代下产品触觉领域正在经历翻天覆地的变化。本文先简要剖析产品触觉领域传统研究分支及其局限性,之后阐释基于这些局限性该领域涌现出的五大新研究主题及背后的理论机制,在此基础上提出数码时代下产品触觉领域的研究框架和未来研究方向。

As an emerging research area,product touch research began to emerge in the early 21st century.With the development of haptic technologies in commercial practice and with the emergence of various haptic media over the past 20 years,the decision contexts consumers now face are no longer limited to simply deciding which purchasing channels to choose,but more about which medium to touch(e.g.,tablet vs.mouse),how to touch(e.g.,dominant hand vs.non-dominant hand;click vs.slide),and where to touch(paper vs.screen),etc.Said differently,the field of product touch has undergone and is undergoing an earth-shaking change in the digital age.This paper is aimed to review product touch research that emerged in the digital age.This first reviews the research limitations of three traditional research branches in the field of product touch,and then introduces five new research topics emerging in this field.Next,this paper elaborates on the theoretical foundations which can explain these five new research topics.This paper is concluded by proposing a theoretical framework of product touch research,and pointing out several valuable new research directions.