Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic refers to the sense of body movement, limb position and muscular effort, arising from receptors in muscles, tendons and joints and closely related to proprioception. In accessibility and interaction-design contexts, kinesthetic cues - such as the pull a partner exerts on a shared prop, the weight of a tool, or the resistance of a haptic controller - provide a non-visual, non-auditory communication channel that can be especially valuable for blind, low-vision, Deaf or hard-of-hearing users, and for any setting where visual or auditory bandwidth is limited (for example under a VR headset). Designing for the kinesthetic channel is a core concern of tangible interaction, haptic interfaces and shared-control assistive devices.