Substitution of Hand-Object Pressure Cues with the Sole of the Foot for Haptic Presentation Using a Tactile Pin Array

This paper discusses a preliminary study on haptic recognition by presenting pressure to the sole of the foot as an alternative to the hand. Various methods to present haptic sensation have been proposed. However, a method that sufficiently mimics the haptic sensation of the entire hand has not been established. The authors investigate an approach of presenting haptic stimuli acting on the hand to another body part as an alternative. This approach will alleviate the difficulty of wearing a device on the hand. However, it raises the question if we will be able to integrate the somatic sensation of the hand with force/tactile sensations that are presented to a different body part. In our study, a system that presents pressure sensations to the sole of the foot was constructed, and experiments to evaluate weight, stiffness, and two-dimensional shape recognition using the system were conducted. Regarding weight and stiffness, the experiments showed that recognition similar to that of the hand is possible. Regarding shape recognition, similar recognition was possible in cases where the pressure was presented to the hand and to the foot.