Question

How do we feel texture?

Answer 1

It’s all about the surface and how our fingertips sense that surface. A rough surface has lots of complicated high bits and low bits, which our fingertips can sense as tiny bumps as we touch it. The bumps set off signals in our fingertips which shoot up into our brain and we feel it as rough. Smooth things have a very flat surface, so our fingertips just glide across and don’t get bumped, we still feel pressure as we press our finger on it but it doesn’t get bumped. Soft things are very delicate and made up of a lot of air, so when you push against them they don’t push back. Hard things are very strong and the atoms are packed together tightly, so they put up a lot of resistance when we press against it.

Answer 2

Tanvas is a company which is using "surface haptics" to bring the feeling of unlimited textures to flat, physical surfaces such as your phone or tablet. Surface haptics add a realistic sense of touch; touch a digital illustration and feeling the life-like textures on the screen. Touch the rhino image and feel the rhino's leathery, rough skin. Imagine the unlimited possibilities for blind students!