An Investigation of the Reason of Velvet Hand Illusion Perception Using FEM Analysis

We try to reveal the reason behind a haptic illusion called Velvet Hand Illusion (VHI) by mean of FEM analysis. In VHI, a person rubs his/her hands together on either side of wires strung through a frame, producing the sensation of rubbing a very smooth and soft surface like velvet. We focus on VHI to determine the specifications of an actuator for a tactile display enhanced by VHI. A simulated fingertip is modeled under the same contact condition that an actual finger is believed to undergo when under VHI. We collected the simulated responses of a number of SAI afferents (responsible for edges) for the purpose of relating them to the mechanism of the illusion. Even with a simple model which treats only one finger we notice a considerable difference between the responses of a number of SAI receptors, compared with that of a fingertip touching wires without the effect of the opposing finger. This study could help in the design of a haptic display which utilizes the illusion and make the person feels the same feeling using the proposed display