Research: Haptics

The sense of touch - the most underestimated sense. What is its role and relevance in a world largly governed by visual media? What makes it different from other senses? We study properties and particularities of tactile perception to facilitate understanding of both neural tactile processing and of "haptic design" principles.

We study the sense of touch by means of psychophysics and electrophysiology. We are interested in exploring the perceptual properties of tactile textures and surfaces. How are they perceived and discriminated? What are crucial parameters in terms of spatio-temporal profiles that determine the perception and properties of textures?

Lead Researchers


Representative Publications

Dinse HR (2009) | mentis Verlag Seite 133-164

Gehirne begreifen und erfassen: Tasten – der unterschätzte Sinn

Dinse HR (2008) | Birkhäuser, pp 537-547

Haptic Banknote Design

Living without the sense of touch?

Pride and a Daily Marathon

Jonathan Cole

Autobiografic story about a person, who lost his sense of touch.