Abstract
The perceptive recognition mechanism on tactile sense provides important information to progress alternative equipments, research and development of the robotics and welfare engineering. In the present research, we investigate the influence of kinesthesia using psychophysical in order to establish a new hypothesis and a mathematical model on the recognition mechanism of human haptic perception. We conduct a new experimental method using psychophysics, in which several pairs of two-dimensional convex-concave figures were presented to human subjects. In a series of experiments, the human subjects distinguish a circle from eight ovals possessing an equivalent area to the circle. These figures are formed as two-dimensional convex-concave relief using a special printer and touched by their fingertips or thenars. We examined three cases: 1) restricted finger movement, 2) free finger movement, 3) free finger movement and refrigerated specimens. From these results, it is found that the two dimensional figure is recognized mainly by the tactile sense only without a specific active movement, and that a peak of the standard deviation of the correct answer observed in the cases 1) and 2) disappeared because a specific mechanoreceptive unit is deteriorated and ceased emitting noise under low temperature.
