Abstract
The spatial characteristics of thermal perception were studied in two experiments that examined how thermal stimuli are processed within the hands. A thermal display that simulates cues associated with making contact with different materials was used in these studies. In the first experiment, participants indicated which of two simulated materials that were presented to the index fingertip was cooler. The results indicated that participants were unable to resolve the two areas of thermal stimulation. In the second experiment, the effects of concurrent thermal stimulation on the ability to discriminate between simulated materials were evaluated. Thermal cues were presented to the middle fingers of both hands and to two adjacent fingers on one hand. Thermal spatial summation was evident across the fingers, which enhanced the ability to discriminate between materials when the cooler stimulus was presented to three fingers. When the same stimulus was presented to the two hands, the stimulation of adjacent fingers altered the perceived thermal response.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benali-Khoudja, M., Hafez, M., Alexandre, J.-M., & Kheddar, A. (2003). Thermal feedback interface requirements for virtual reality. In I. Oakley, S. O'Modhrain, & F. Newell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2003 EuroHaptics Conference (pp. 438–443). Paris: EuroHaptics Society.
Berg, S. L. (1978). Magnitude estimates of spatial summation for conducted cool stimuli along with thermal fractionation and a case of secondary hyperalgesia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University.
Bergamasco, M., Alessi, A. A., & Calcara, M. (1997). Thermal feedback in virtual environments. Presence, 6, 617–629.
Businger, J. A., & Buettner, K. J. K. (1961). Thermal contact coefficient (A term proposed for use in heat transfer). Journal of Meteorology, 18, 422.
Caldwell, D. G., & Gosney, C. (1993). Enhanced tactile feedback (tele-taction) using a multi-functional sensory system. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, 1, 955–960.
Caldwell, D. G., Tsagarakis, N., & Wardle, A. (1997). Mechano thermo and proprioceptor feedback for integrated haptic feedback. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, 3, 2491–2496.
Darian-Smith, I., & Johnson, K. O. (1977). Thermal sensibility and thermoreceptors. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 69, 146–153.
Deml, B., Mihalyi, A., & Hannig, G. (2006). Development and experimental evaluation of a thermal display. In Proceedings of the 2006 EuroHaptics Conference (pp. 257–262). Paris: EuroHaptics Society.
Green, B. G. (1977). Localization of thermal sensation: An illusion and synthetic heat. Perception & Psychophysics, 22, 331–337.
Green, B. G. (1978). Referred thermal sensations: Warmth versus cold. Sensory Processes, 2, 220–230.
Greenspan, J. D., & Kenshalo, D. R. (1985). The primate as a model for the human temperature-sensing system: II. Area of skin receiving thermal stimulation. Somatosensory Research, 2, 315–324.
Ho, H., & Jones, L. A. (2006a). Contribution of thermal cues to material discrimination and localization. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 118–128.
Ho, H., & Jones, L. A. (2006b). Thermal model for hand-object interactions. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems (pp. 461–467). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
Ho, H., & Jones, L. A. (2007). Development and evaluation of a thermal display for material identification and discrimination. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 4, 1–24.
Incropera, F. P., & DeWitt, D. P. (1996). Fundamentals of heat and mass transfer. New York: Wiley.
Ino, S., Shimizu, S., Odagawa, T., Sato, M., Takahashi, M., Izumi, T., & Ifukube, T. (1993). A tactile display for presenting quality of materials by changing the temperature of skin surface. In Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Robot & Human Communication (pp. 220–224). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
Jones, L. A., & Berris, M. (2003). Material discrimination and thermal perception. In Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems (pp. 171–178). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
Jones, L. A., & Ho, H. (2008). Warm or cool, large or small? The challenge of thermal displays. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 1, 53–70.
Kammermeier, P., Kron, A., Hoogen, J., & Schmidt, G. (2004). Display of holistic haptic sensations by combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback. Presence, 13, 1–15.
Kenshalo, D. R., Decker, T., & Hamilton, A. (1967). Spatial summation on the forehead, forearm, and back produced by radiant and conducted heat. Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 63, 510–515.
LaMotte, R. H., & Srinivasan, M. A. (1991). Surface microgeometry: Tactile perception and neural encoding. In O. Franzen & J. Westman (Eds.), Information processing in the somatosensory system (pp. 49–58). London: Macmillan.
Matweb (2007). Database of material properties. Retrieved June 2007, from www.matweb.com.
Rózsa, A. J., & Kenshalo, D. R. (1977). Bilateral spatial summation of cooling of symmetrical sites. Perception & Psychophysics, 21, 455–462.
Stevens, J. C. (1991). Thermal sensibility. In M. A. Heller & W. Schiff (Eds.), The psychology of touch (pp. 61–90). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stevens, J. C., & Choo, K. K. (1998). Temperature sensitivity of the body surface over the life span. Somatosensory & Motor Research, 15, 13–28.
Stevens, J. C., & Marks, L. E. (1979). Spatial summation of cold. Physiology & Behavior, 22, 541–547.
Verrillo, R. T., Bolanowski, S. J., & McGlone, F. P. (1999). Subjective magnitude estimate of tactile roughness. Somatosensory & Motor Research, 16, 352–360.
Yamamoto, A., Cros, B., Hashimoto, H., & Higuchi, T. (2004). Control of thermal tactile display based on prediction of contact temperature. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, 2, 1536–1541.
Yang, G., Jones, L. A., & Kwon, D. (2008). Use of simulated thermal cues for material discrimination and identification with a multifingered display. Presence, 17, 29–42.
Yang, G., Kyung, K., Jeong, Y., & Kwon, D. (2005). Novel haptic mouse system for holistic haptic display and potential of vibrotactile stimulation. In Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (pp. 1109–1114). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
Yovanovich, M. M. (1986). Recent developments in thermal contact, gap and joint conductance theories and experiments. Proceedings of the 8th International Heat Transfer Conference, 1, 35–45.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was supported by TSI-ITE (Immersive Tangible Environment) (KIST) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory under Cooperative Agreement DAAD19-01-2-0009.
Note—Accepted by the previous editorial team, when Thomas H. Carr was Editor.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, GH., Kwon, DS. & Jones, L.A. Spatial acuity and summation on the hand: The role of thermal cues in material discrimination. Perception, & Psychophysics 71, 156–163 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.71.1.156
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.71.1.156