Perception of Physical Properties with Augmented Auditory-Tactile Feedback

Abstract

By means of Augmented Reality systems it has become increasingly easy to add virtual objects to our reality and interact with them. But AR can also be utilized to change real objects, i.e. our perception of real objects. In this thesis we present two methods for changing how we perceive thickness when we are exploring objects by touch; by modulating auditory- and tactile feedback. Vision being a primary sense of humans, we often first estimate physical properties of objects and materials around us by sight. However, when we cannot get the information we want merely by sight, we often resort to haptic exploration. In this research we look at one of such haptic explorations, namely tapping an object to estimate the thickness of a material. We proved that perception of thickness of stiff objects can be changed by modulating sound stimuli. For more flexible objects where tactile cues are more pronounced, adding low frequency long decay tactile stimuli to vibratory responses of tapping on thick objects can make people perceive it as thin. Furthermore we identified that in this last case congruent sound stimuli do not enhance the illusion.