Haptic perception

Figure 13.2: Haptic exploration involves several different kinds interaction between the hand and an object to learn the object properties, such as size, shape, weight, firmness, and surface texture. (Figure by Allison Okamura, adapted from Lederman and Klatzky.)

For a larger object, its overall geometric shape can be inferred through haptic exploration, which involves handling the object. Imagine that someone hands you an unknown object, and you must determine its shape while blindfolded. Figure 13.2 shows six different qualitative types of haptic exploration, each of which involves different kinds of receptors and combinations of spatial and temporal information. By integrating the somatosensory signals from this in-hand manipulation, a geometric model of the object is learned.