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Simulating Affective Touch: Using a Vibrotactile Array to Generate Pleasant Stroking Sensations

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Haptics: Perception, Devices, Control, and Applications (EuroHaptics 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9775))

Abstract

Gentle stroking touches are rated most pleasant when applied at a velocity of between 1–10 cm/s. Such touches are considered highly relevant in social interactions. Here, we investigate whether stroking sensations generated by a vibrotactile array can produce similar pleasantness responses, with the ultimate goal of using this type of haptic display in technology mediated social touch. A study was conducted in which participants received vibrotactile stroking stimuli of different velocities and intensities, applied to their lower arm. Results showed that the stimuli were perceived as continuous stroking sensations in a straight line. Furthermore, pleasantness ratings for low intensity vibrotactile stroking followed an inverted U-curve, similar to that found in research into actual stroking touches. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was supported by the Dutch national program COMMIT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Media Interaction, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Gijs Huisman, Jan B. F. van Erp & Dirk K. J. Heylen

  2. Digital Life Centre, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Wibautstraat 2-4, 1091 GM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Aduén Darriba Frederiks

  3. Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, TNO, P.O. Box 23, 3769 DE, Soesterberg, The Netherlands

    Jan B. F. van Erp

Authors
  1. Gijs Huisman
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  2. Aduén Darriba Frederiks
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  3. Jan B. F. van Erp
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  4. Dirk K. J. Heylen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gijs Huisman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

    Fernando Bello

  2. The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Japan

    Hiroyuki Kajimoto

  3. University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Japan

    Yon Visell

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Huisman, G., Frederiks, A.D., van Erp, J.B.F., Heylen, D.K.J. (2016). Simulating Affective Touch: Using a Vibrotactile Array to Generate Pleasant Stroking Sensations. In: Bello, F., Kajimoto, H., Visell, Y. (eds) Haptics: Perception, Devices, Control, and Applications. EuroHaptics 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9775. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42323-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42324-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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