Brushed stimuli are perceived as pleasant when stroked lightly on the skin surface of a touch receiver at certain velocities. While the relationship between brush velocity and pleasantness has been widely replicated, we do not understand how resultant skin movements - e.g., lateral stretch, stick-slip, normal indentation - drive us to form such judgments. In a series of psychophysical experiments, this work modulates skin movements by varying stimulus stiffness and employing various treatments. The stimuli include brushes of three levels of stiffness and an ungloved human finger. The skin's friction is modulated via non-hazardous chemicals and washing protocols, and the skin's thickness and lateral movement are modulated by thin sheets of adhesive film. The stimuli are hand-brushed at controlled forces and velocities. Human participants report perceived pleasantness per trial using ratio scaling. The results indicate that a brush's stiffness influenced pleasantness more than any skin treatment. Surprisingly, varying the skin's friction did not affect pleasantness. However, the application of a thin elastic film modulated pleasantness. Such barriers, though elastic and only 40 microns thick, inhibit the skin's tangential movement and disperse normal force. The finding that thin films modulate affective interactions has implications for wearable sensors and actuation devices.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8763324 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/whc49131.2021.9517259 | DOI Listing |
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Grundlagen von Energiematerialien, Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany.
To date, III-V semiconductor-based tandem devices with GaInP top photoabsorbers show the highest solar-to-electricity or solar-to-fuel conversion efficiencies. In photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells, however, III-V semiconductors are sensitive, in terms of photochemical stability and, therefore, require suitable functional layers for electronic and chemical passivation. GaN films are discussed as promising options for this purpose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States.
Low-temperature synthesis is crucial for advancing sustainable manufacturing and accessing novel metastable phases. Metal hydrides have shown great potential in facilitating the reduction of oxides at low temperatures, yet the underlying mechanism─whether driven by H, H, or atomic H─remains unclear. In this study, we employ electrical transport measurements and first-principles calculations to investigate the CaH-driven reduction kinetics in epitaxial α-FeO thin films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Chem Chem Phys
January 2025
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
The combination of plasmonic metals and MXene, as a new and interesting member of the 2D material class, may provide unique advantages in terms of low cost, versatility, flexibility, and improved activity as an ideal surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) platform. Despite the recent progress, the present studies on the utilization of plasmonic metal/MXene-based SERS systems are quite limited and thereby benefits of the extraordinary properties of this combination cannot be realized. In this study, for the first time, we propose layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films of TiC MXene and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a robust SERS platform (TiC/AuNPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Converg
January 2025
Department of Physics, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea.
Two-dimensional halide perovskites are attracting attention due to their structural diversity, improved stability, and enhanced quantum efficiency compared to their three-dimensional counterparts. In particular, Dion-Jacobson (DJ) phase perovskites exhibit superior structural stability compared to Ruddlesden-Popper phase perovskites. The inherent quantum well structure of layered perovskites leads to highly anisotropic charge transport and optical properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
School of Chemistry and Physics, ARC Research Hub in Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality, and Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Here, we design exotic interfaces within a flexible thermoelectric device, incorporating a polyimide substrate, Ti contact layer, Cu electrode, Ti barrier layer, and thermoelectric thin film. The device features 162 pairs of thin-film legs with high room-temperature performance, using p-BiSbTe and n-BiTeSe, with figure-of-merit values of 1.39 and 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!