Surface shape alters perceived material softness

When a human strokes the surface of an object with his/her finger, the surface shape influences the perceived softness of the object. This study introduced a curved surface softness illusion, which alters the perception of material softness. When a surface with curvature is felt by sliding a finger...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hongbo Wang, Qingyu Sun, Shogo Okamoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2024-03-01
Series:i-Perception
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695241245021
Description
Summary:When a human strokes the surface of an object with his/her finger, the surface shape influences the perceived softness of the object. This study introduced a curved surface softness illusion, which alters the perception of material softness. When a surface with curvature is felt by sliding a finger over it, it feels softer than a flat surface made of the same material. In contrast, a rugged surface is perceived as harder. This illusion indicates that, in addition to mechanical hardness, humans judge an object’s softness based on its surface shape.
ISSN:2041-6695