Determining Reaction Times Using Touch Screen Devices - A Comparison of Various Methods

The use of mobile devices is becoming increasingly popular and this does not stop at tasks previously thought difficult to implement for a professional mobile setting, such as performing reliable reaction time based test that are often included in psychophysical test suites. For stationary (PC-based) settings, various implementations of such test suites exist. When using mobile smart devices for such purposes, special care must be taken to standardize evaluation of reaction times as the way users handle such devices can differ greatly, for example depending on user's familiarity with mobile devices or personal preferences while handling them. Values obtained for reaction tests with mobile may also be influenced by the setting where testing takes place. Nevertheless, standardization is an important aspect to allow for conclusive values. This paper compares five different methods for obtaining reaction times using the touch screen of mobile devices that where evaluated in order to determine the best method to use for inclusion in a mobile test suite we are currently implementing with the intent to be able to provide objective parameters in settings where good reaction times are essential.