ElectroClick: Enhancing Button Experiences on Surfaces with Electrotactile Sensations

Buttons are vital in user interfaces, and their tactile qualities significantly influence user experience, yet mechanical versions are often absent from compact and wearable devices due to space constraints. Existing haptic solutions, mainly vibrotactile actuators, lack the spatial resolution to reproduce their nuanced feel. We present ElectroClick, a thin, flexible electrotactile interface that simulates button sensations---such as click, keystroke, frequency, and spatial patterns---linked to pressing force. We address the challenges of rendering fine-grained button feedback, maintaining click reliability alongside other electrotactile cues, and comparing performance with physical buttons. User studies show that parameter adjustments can produce varied, realistic button sensations. Our contributions include the ElectroClick method, hardware and algorithms, design guidelines, and application examples across platforms.