Introduction: Recent studies have revealed the possibility of learning skills through alternative methods and repetitive tactile stimulation without explicit training. This study aimed to examine the effect of involuntary tactile stimulation on the memory and creativity of healthy participants. Methods: A group of 92 right-handed students participated in this study voluntarily. They were assig...

We present the design of a modular tactile sensor and actuator system for observing human demonstrations of contact tasks. The system consists of three interchangeable parts: an intrinsic tactile sensor for measuring net force/ torque, an extrinsic tactile sensor for measuring contact distributions , and a tactile actuator for displaying tactile distributions. The novel components are the extri...

This thesis presents the design and development of several tactile displays, as well as their eventual integration into a framework of tactile and kinesthetic stimulation. As a basis for the design of novel devices, an extensive survey of existing actuator principles and existing realizations of tactile displays is complemented by neurobiological and psychophysical findings. The work is structu...

Synchronized CUI and GUI are developed for the universal design tactile graphics production system BPLOT3. BPLOT is the first tactile graphics production system for the blind that enables the blind to produce tactile graphics by themselves. With the new synchronized CUI and GUI of BPLOT3, the blind and the sighted can collaboratively produce tactile graphics. Proofreading of tactile graphics by...

Sensory systems for detecting tactile stimuli have evolved from touch-sensing nerves in invertebrates to complicated tactile end organs in mammals. Merkel discs are tactile end organs consisting of Merkel cells and Aβ-afferent nerve endings and are localized in fingertips, whisker hair follicles, and other touch-sensitive spots. Merkel discs transduce touch into slowly adapting impulses to enab...

This paper outlines a novel approach of displaying multifingered tactile feedback information from remote and virtual environments. Miniature tactile fingertip modules are developed allowing multi-fingered integration into an already existing hand force exoskeleton for display of combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback. The tactile feedback comprises generation of both, vibrotactile and therm...

Soft robots capable of dexterous manipulation can enable the exploration extreme environments. Equipping these with tactile sensing is a challenge, as sensors must be flexible, stretchable, and robust to environmental conditions. We present sensor design pneumatically driven acoustic resonator, without electronics near from end-effector. For applications soft grippers, we measure resonant frequ...

Tactile speech aids, though extensively studied in the 1980s and 90s, never became a commercial success. A hypothesis to explain this failure might be that it is difficult to obtain true perceptual integration of a tactile signal with information from auditory speech: exploitation of tactile cues from a tactile aid might require cognitive effort and so prevent speech understanding at the high r...

Many studies have investigated the evidence for tactile and visual interactive responses to activation of various brain regions. However, few studies have reported on the effects of visuo-tactile multisensory integration on the amount of brain activation on the somatosensory cortical regions. The aim of this study was to examine whether coincidental information obtained by tactile stimulation c...

Tactile dots and bars serve as tactile landmarks so that people with visual impairment can use same consumer products as those used by sighted people. However, reliable age-related data on the appropriate sizes and the shapes was not necessarily available. The purpose of this study is to evaluate influences of edge radius of curvature of tactile dots and bars on their discriminability in younge...