Tactile sensory substitution: Models for enaction in HCI

  • Authors:

  • Yon Visell

  • Affiliations:

  • McGill University, Deparment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Centre for Intelligent Machines and CIRMMT, 3480 University Street, Room 424, Montreal, Que., Canada H3A 2A7

  • Venue:
  • Interacting with Computers
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

To apply enactive principles within human-computer interaction poses interesting challenges to the way that we design and evaluate interfaces, particularly those that possess a strong sensorimotor character. This article surveys the field of tactile sensory substitution, an area of science and engineering that lies at the intersection of such research domains as neuroscience, haptics, and sensory prosthetics. It is argued that this area of research is of high relevance to the design and understanding of enactive interfaces that make use of touch, and is also a fertile arena for revealing fundamental issues at stake in the design and implementation of enactive interfaces, ranging from engineering, to human sensory physiology, and the function and plasticity of perception. A survey of these questions is provided, alongside a range of current and historical examples.