An ergonomic approach to the active tactile perception is described with an example of sensing surface conditions of a human skin. In a practical manipulation of softness and elasticity of human cheeks, a forefinger was used by applying a small amount of stroke, pushing releasing. A model is described for the input of a stroke to the object and the response detected as a stress change. The detection system has been developed using an actuator and a tactile sensor, which can be applied for measuring the dynamic properties of human skin. The system is controlled under the conditions derived from the analysis of forefinger movements, and a correlation is obtained between the parameters from the measurements and the softness and elasticity evaluated by experts. The importance of handling process for active sensing of pliant objects, such as the detection of conditions of human skin, is suggested.
