In this paper, an interpersonal communication method based on tactile beats when devices are established physical contact will be proposed. Tactile beats are a well-known phenomenon that describes frequency modulation occurs when vibrating objects with similar but not same operating frequencies are physically connected. Vibrating signals at each configuration (no contact and contact with same/d...

Over three months of intensive training with a tactile stimulation device, 18 blind and 10 blindfolded seeing subjects improved in their ability to identify geometric figures by touch. Seven blind subjects spontaneously reported 'visual qualia', the subjective sensation of seeing flashes of light congruent with tactile stimuli. In the latter subjects tactile stimulation evoked activation of occ...

An immersive technology being developed by the Army to provide enhanced situation awareness for military personnel involves the use of tactile stimulators arranged in a matrix pattern surrounding the torso. When activated sequentially the tactile display can be swept over the torso to provide a sense of motion. This tactile stimulus can alter the perceived experience of self-motion produced by ...

In the present paper, we will attempt to gain hints regarding the nature of tactile awareness in humans. At first, we will review some recent literature showing that an actual tactile experience can emerge in absence of any tactile stimulus (e.g., tactile hallucinations, tactile illusions). According to the current model of tactile awareness, we will subsequently argue that such (false) tactile...

We investigated the role of visual experience and visual imagery in the processing of two-dimensional (2-D) tactile patterns. The performance of early-blind (EB), late-blind (LB), and blindfolded sighted (S) adults in the recognition of 2-D raised-line patterns was compared. We also examined whether recognition of 2-D tactile patterns depends on the type of memory strategy (eg spatial, visuo-sp...

Tactile feedback from a remotely controlled robotic arm can facilitate certain tasks by enabling the user to experience tactile or force sensations from the robot's interaction with the environment. However, equipping both the robot and the user with tactile sensing and feedback systems can be complex, expensive, restrictive and application specific. This paper introduces a new tele-operation h...

Intersubjectivity entails the taking of another's perspective in order to understand their experience of the world. This perspective taking capacity extends to the intra-individual sharing of tactile experience. Previous studies have shown modulation of motor cortex excitability in response to the observation of aversive tactile stimulation to the hand of another person. Here we used transcrani...

Mirror-touch synaesthesia is a condition where observing touch to another's body induces a subjective tactile sensation on the synaesthetes body. The present study explores which characteristics of the inducing stimulus modulate the synaesthetic touch experience. Fourteen mirror-touch synaesthetes watched videos depicting a touch event while indicating (i) whether the video induced a tactile se...

Social dysfunction has been recognized as an elementary feature of schizophrenia, but it remains a crucial issue whether social deficits in schizophrenia concern the inter-subjective domain or primarily have their roots in disturbances of self-experience. Social perception comprises vicarious processes grounding an experiential inter-relationship with others as well as self-regulation processes...