Interaction techniques for older adults using touchscreen devices: a literature review from 2000 to 2013

Some remarkable advances in mobile technologies have been made on the past fifteen years, especially the adoption of direct input on the screen. Since aging is now a worldwide demographic phenomenon, several studies have been carried on to investigate and improve the interaction between older aged adults and these new technologies. These studies are important because mobile devices are often equipped with touchscreen and they can help to improve quality of life for older adults (health care, social life, serious games). Understanding interaction of this group of users with touchscreen can facilitate the adoption of interactive technologies and their future use by older populations. This literature review analyses thirty six studies that evaluated interaction techniques for older users using touchscreen devices. This review intends to 1) analyze the situation of thirty six studies (population, apparatus, tasks and interaction techniques) and 2) identify situations of use of touchscreen devices and interaction techniques that need to be further studied. As results, a descriptive analysis of the populations included, the chosen apparatus, executed tasks and interaction techniques are presented, so as a summary of relevant parameters to consider for studies of tactile interaction techniques. On each topic, we discuss about the results, the authors’ recommendations and we provide cues for future work.