Implications of Dynamic Touch for Human Factors/Ergonomics: Contributions from Ecological Psychology

Abstract

The goal of this symposium is to illustrate how research findings from dynamic touch research (i.e., hefting and wielding of objects) within the framework of ecological psychology can have direct and valuable contributions to the field of HF/E. Ecological psychology, as developed by James J. Gibson, shares with HF/E a critical focus on the mutual relationship between person and environment, embodied in Gibson's concept of affordance (i.e., opportunity for behavior). Research in dynamic touch has shown that perceived affordances of hand-held objects are constrained by variables relevant to the task-specific control of the hand-plus-object system. Work on perception of limb position and properties of hand-held objects as well as perception by means of hand-held objects has potential applications in areas such as the design of prosthetics and hand-held tools, remote-controlled or virtual tool use, navigational/perceptual aids for the visually or somatosensory impaired, materials handling, and the design of interfaces.