Tactile Representation of Motion and Space
Organizers:
Msc Eng, PhD Student, Gemma Carolina Bettelani, Research Center E. Piaggio, Dept. Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, gemma.bettelani1@gmail.com
MD, Phd Student, Colleen Patricia Ryan, Dept. of Systems Medicine and Centre of Space Bio-Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Department of Neuromotor Physiology, IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, colleenpatriciar@gmail.com
Assistant Professor, Matteo Bianchi, Research Center E. Piaggio, Dept. Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, matteo.bianchi@unipi.it
Assistant Professor, Alessandro Moscatelli, Dept. of Systems Medicine and Centre of Space Bio-Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Department of Neuromotor Physiology, IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, a.moscatelli@hsantalucia.it
Abstract:
Touch is an intrinsically active sense, where the sensory signals are acquired through purposive movements, made to explore the world. Because of the active nature of touch, there is a complex and astonishing interplay between static (e.g., texture, softness) and dynamic (e.g., speed, vibrations) features of stimuli which affect our perceptual representation of objects and motor control of the hand. There is a bidirectional flow of information between the motor and the tactile system, which is evident at the hand level. More specifically, it is well known that hand movement is optimized to collect the maximum amount of information about object properties. At the same time, tactile cues play a crucial role for proprioception, motion perception and motor control, as well as for the execution of manipulation tasks. This workshop aims to highlight the intertwined relationship between the motor and the somatosensory system, discussing future research directions for what concerns the investigation of tactile representation of motion and space, and possible trans-disciplinary applications in advanced human machine interaction.