Influence of temperature profiles on thermal tactile sensation

Abstract

The theoretical and experimental study of a thermal model describing the thermal response of skin when a finger contacts with materials are presented in the paper. Few studies have considered the influence of finger skin’s thickness on the thermal sensation. Therefore, the theoretical solution of the temperature change at thermoreceptors that function as thermal sensors during contact is given out. Also a principle model for reproducing thermal cues is proposed. When a thermal tactile display simulates a sensation of thermal presence, due to inter-individual variations, it is difficult to set the initial skin temperatures to a specific value. The concept of relative thermal recognizing profile is proposed and applied to deal with it, by which the skin initial temperature is measured instead of being set in simulating. The initial temperatures are measured at the beginning and then the corresponding temperature profiles are obtained to simulate the thermal cues of tactile sensation. The experimental results of material recognition were presented.