Seeing with the Skin

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

To participate you need to be:

• a healthy adult, between 20 and 65 years of age
• from the international community of OIST only
• right-handed
• normal or corrected to normal vision

You will not be allowed to participate:

• if you have a current working or personal relationship (for instance, you are their friend, student or collaborator) with the Unit's PI (Tom Froese) or any of the researchers involved in the study

Our goals

The aim of this study is to investigate perception when using a device that is designed to provide information of one sense (vision) using another sense (touch).

Instructions and procedures

You will be given a new tool called Enactive Torch, a hand-held device that produces vibrations on the skin of your hand when you are pointing it at a near object. You will first play a modified whack-a-mole game and then perform a task that consists in distinguishing object shapes and sizes. The experiment will also include interaction with a robot arm to explore the objects.

We will register your reports about perception of objects, your muscular activity, and your heartbeat. The equipment we use in the experiment is described in the "Equipment Information" document.

Before you sign up:

• make sure you are eligible to participate in the study given the inclusion and exclusion criteria listed at the top of the page
• read the provided material carefully, to ensure your ability to give an informed consent.