A Method to Produce Tactile Sensation Using Suction Pressure

Abstract

In our previous studies, we have proposed a novel tactile stimulation method named "Suction Pressure Stimulation (SPS)." The method is based on our finding that humans can not discriminate suction from compression when the skin is pulled through a hole with a negative air pressure. This illusion indicates that tactile mechanoreceptors detect not stress nor strain tensor directly but scalar parameters such as strain energy density. In this paper, we clarify optimal conditions for achieving the illusion. Comparing the results of psychophysical experiments with simulation analyses of the SPS, we discuss physical parameters sensed by tactile receptors.