Haptic interfaces that induce motion and emotion

Abstract

Recent attempts to control motion and emotion using a haptic interface are introduced. Tactile stimulation can induce motion, such as in the cases that the wire hanger attached to head induces involuntary head rotation by applying pressure, the tangential deformation of the skin induces forearm motion, and the pulling of an earlobe controls walking. On the other hand, the tactile presentation of a false physiological response can modulate emotion, such as in facilitating affection by presenting a false heartbeat and amplifying a feeling of surprise through artificial control of piloerection on the forearm. There is thus the possibility of broadening the application area of haptic interfaces, where users do not directly understand the presented information but involuntarily react and understand the information only through their own reactions.