Measurement of the tactile acuity distribution at the index finger

Abstract

In everyday tasks, we employ not just the finger pad but also the sides and hemispherical ends of the fingers in object manipulation. Hence, ensuring tactile perception spans the entire fingertip is considered crucial for advancing teleoperation. To achieve this objective, understanding the spatial acuity distribution of the fingertip becomes paramount. Although it's commonly acknowledged that the tactile acuity varies across the fingertip, from the end to the pad, the specifics of this resolution shift and the resolution on the finger's side remain unknown. Through meticulous measurements, we discovered that the spatial acuity at the index fingertip undergoes almost linear changes, with a significant decline in tactile acuity on the side of the finger.