2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
High precision measurement of tactile differential threshold of human by tactile display using air-jet
| Project/Area Number |
17570200
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
生理人類学
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| Research Institution | Kansai University |
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Principal Investigator |
KOTANI Kentaro Kansai University, Faculty of Engineering, Associate Professor, 工学部, 助教授 (80288795)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HORII Ken Kansai University, Faculty of Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (00067711)
MIURA Toshihiro Kansai University, Faculty of Engineering, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (70141512)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2006
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| Keywords | Tactile sensation / Differential threshold / Human Measurement / Weber ratio / Cutaneous perception / Air-jet / Threshold for classification / Virtual Reality |
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| Research Abstract |
This study investigated the relationship between the force applied to a finger and the differential threshold of the force. Further, the rise time of the force was evaluated as a factor of changes in differential threshold since such characteristics can be detected by mechanoreceptors sensing acceleration of skin deformation. For this purpose, a tactile display using an air-jet was developed. The system was capable of producing an air jet of up to 12 gf of applied force. The resolution of the force of the system was 0.1gf. The air was aimed at the center of the fingertip of the index finger. The inner diameter of the nozzle was set to 3 mm, which was the typical size used in the study for investigating the application of the tactile display. A total of 14 subjects performed a psychophysical experiment, conducted to obtain the differential threshold from 2gf to 7gf. The range of the force was determined because the range tested has never been confirmed whether or not the Weber's law can apply. For the effect of the rise time, 10 subjects participated in the next experiment where three levels of standard stimuli as well as three levels of rise time were tested as independent variables. As a result, the Weber ratio stayed 0.1 when the standard stimulus was as small as 4gf, whereas the Weber ratio gradually increased when the standard stimulus was smaller than 4gf. The results revealed that the Weber's law cannot apply to the small magnitude of tactile stimuli as in the case of stimuli given as other perceptions such as visual and auditory perception. The differential threshold was increased as the rise time of the stimulus increased. The findings of this study would be directly applicable to the design of input system using force control.
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Research Products
(2 results)
