Can you feel the rhythm? Comparing vibrotactile and auditory stimuli in the rhythm video game Jump‘n'Rhythm

Rhythm is essential in early music education. To acquire rhythm abilities, the synchronisation between body and rhythm patterns is fundamental. Extensive research has shown the link between the auditory-motor system and rhythm acquisition; however, other sensorimotor systems also improve rhythm skills. Rhythm acquisition can be trained using new technologies, such as video games; however, most of these use mainly auditory stimuli to improve it. Therefore, in this work, we explore tactile stimuli to improve rhythm skills using a video game and how visual elements affect rhythm perception using different stimuli. We evaluate and compare the synchronisation of 27 participants following either vibrotactile or auditory stimuli emitted through a rhythm video game in two difficulty levels and we evaluated the user experience. Consistent with the literature, our results indicate that participants synchronised slightly better using auditory than vibrotactile stimuli and players’ performance was better when they had visual guides. A fatigue effect persisted and increased over playtime in both conditions. In the current study, usability measures indicate no significant differences. These findings suggest that vibrotactile stimuli are also suitable to train rhythm skills in a video game environment and the game-elements play an important role in players' performance.