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Tactile Perception of Skin and Skin Cream

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Abstract

The tactile sense allows us to get the feeling of objects, and it is one of the most important sensations humans process. In this study, a characterization method for estimating the tactile sensation associated with skin cream was carried out. Four characteristic features, spectral centroid (SC), vertical deviations (R), adhesive force (F a), and coefficient of friction (μ), are extracted and used to characterize the tactile perception. The influences of skin cream, film thickness, humidity, and temperature on the tactile perception of skin were studied. It is found that the features are consistent with human tactile sensing and could characterize the tactile perception accurately. After applied skin cream, SC, F a, and μ increase and R decreases, which correspond to a fine, greasy, sticky, and smooth perception. With the increase in cream film thickness, SC and F a increase and R decreases, which correspond to an increase in fine, greasy, and smooth perception. μ and the perceived slipperiness show different tendency when the film thickness is above 3 μm. Humidity and temperature influence the tactile perception of skin. Humidity has the similar function with skin cream. The influence of humidity on tactile perception of cream-treated skin is more obvious than on virgin skin. The related mechanisms were discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China 51205394, Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education 20120095120014, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project 2013T60572, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 2014QNA41, the International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program, and A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The authors acknowledge the Syntouch LLC for supporting the biomimetic finger.

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Ethical standard

The research in the manuscript has been conducted under the guidance of international ethical standards. All relevant ethical safeguards have been met in relation to patient or subject protection, or animal experimentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechatronic Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Wei Tang, Jiankai Zhang, Si Chen, Nanxuan Chen, Hua Zhu, Shirong Ge & Shaogang Zhang

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Mine Mechanical and Electrical Equipment, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China

    Wei Tang

  3. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Wei Tang

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  1. Wei Tang
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Correspondence to Hua Zhu.

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Tang, W., Zhang, J., Chen, S. et al. Tactile Perception of Skin and Skin Cream. Tribol Lett 59, 24 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-015-0540-3

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