Virtual Reality (VR) has been proven to be capable of enabling its users to experience immersive virtual environments and interact with the computer. Most VR applications utilize stereo visual perception, however, stereo visual perception alone is not enough to fully immerse users in VR environments. Haptic feedback technology when applied to VR applications can offer improved immersion and int...

Confronted with the loss of one type of sensory input, we compensate using information conveyed by other senses. However, losing one type of sensory information at specific developmental times may lead to deficits across all sensory modalities. We addressed the effect of auditory deprivation on the development of tactile abilities, taking into account changes occurring at the behavioral and cor...

From literature and through common experience it is known that stimulation of the tactile (touch) sense or auditory (hearing) sense can be used to improve people's health and well-being. For example, to make people relax, feel better, sleep better or feel comforted. In this position paper we propose the concept of combined auditory-tactile stimulation and argue that it potentially has positive ...

The coherent experience of the self and world depends on ability to integrate vs. segregate sensory information. Optimal temporal integration between senses is mediated by oscillatory properties neural activity. Previous research showed reduced sensitivity multisensory events in schizotypy, a personality trait linked schizophrenia. Here we used tactile-induced Double-Flash-Illusion (tDFI) inves...

The importance of early tactile experience in the development of discriminative somatomotor function was assessed by examining the proficiency and movement strategies of rats raised without normal sensory inputs provided by their mystacial vibrissae. Infant-trimmed animals had their whiskers clipped daily from birth to 45 d of age, after which they were allowed to regrow for 60-70 d before init...

Physical fitness is considered a major factor contributing to the maintenance of independent living and everyday competence. In line with this notion, it has been shown that several years of amateur dancing experience can exert beneficial effects not only on balance and posture but also on tactile, motor, and cognitive functions in older people. This raises the question of whether an even more ...

Somatosensory impairments occur in about half of the cases of stroke. These impairments range from primary deficits in tactile detection and the perception of features, to higher order impairments in haptic object recognition and bodily experience. In this paper, we review the influence of active- and self-touch on somatosensory impairments after stroke. Studies have shown that self-touch impro...

Spatial Tactile Feedback Support for Mobile Touch-screen Devices Koji Yatani Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Computer Science University of Toronto 2011 Mobile touch-screen devices have the capability to accept flexible touch input, and can provide a larger screen than mobile devices with physical buttons. However, many of the user interfaces found in mobile touch-screen devices req...

Appendages are important sources of sensory information for all animals that possess them but they are commonly damaged in nature. We describe how the tactile system of the crayfish Cherax destructor functioned when subjected to the kind of damage found in wild-caught or cultured animals. Touch information was methodically varied by the removal of antennae and chelae. The resulting behaviour wa...

An Asian spice, Szechuan pepper (sanshool), is well known for the tingling sensation it induces on the mouth and on the lips. Electrophysiological studies have revealed that its active ingredient can induce firing of mechanoreceptor fibres that typically respond to mechanical vibration. Moreover, a human behavioral study has reported that the perceived frequency of sanshool-induced tingling mat...