Human Tactile Ability to Discriminate Variations in Small Ridge Patterns thorugh a Portable-Wearable Tactile Display

This work presents a quantitative evaluation of subjects´ tactile ability to discriminate small virtual ridge patterns through a portable-wearable tactile device. The virtual patterns have been recreated by controlling the vertically moving pins of the device. Psychophysical experiments were performed to measure subjects´ thresholds for spatial variation discrimination of ridge patterns. Moreover, for comparison reasons, further psychophysical experiments were performed with real ridge patterns using a non-actuated version of the tactile device and touching directly with the bear finger. During experiments, the exploration velocity was monitored. The present results help to understand, compare and characterize the tactile display when rendering small ridge patterns. The output of the presented study can also assist in the development of new tactile systems.