Integration of Independent Heat Transfer Mechanisms for Non-Contact Cold Sensation Presentation With Low Residual Heat

Thermal sensation is crucial to enhancing our comprehension of the world and enhancing our ability to interact with it. Therefore, the development of thermal sensation presentation technologies holds significant potential, providing a novel method of interaction. Traditional technologies often leave residual heat in the system or the skin, affecting subsequent presentations. Our study focuses on presenting thermal sensations with low residual heat, especially cold sensations. To mitigate the impact of residual heat in the presentation system, we opted for a non-contact method, and to address the influence of residual heat on the skin, we present thermal sensations without significantly altering skin temperature. Specifically, we integrated two highly responsive and independent heat transfer mechanisms: convection via cold air and radiation via visible light, providing non-contact thermal stimuli. By rapidly alternating between perceptible decreases and imperceptible increases in temperature on the same skin area, we maintained near-constant skin temperature while presenting continuous cold sensations. In our experiments involving 15 participants, we observed that when the cooling rate was -0.2 to -0.24 degree celsius per second and the cooling time ratio was 30 to 50 %, more than 86.67 % of the participants perceived only persistent cold without any warmth

Non-contact Cold Thermal Display by Controlling Low-temperature Air Flow Generated with Vortex Tube

In recent years, thermal display has been studied intensively in order to represent a more realistic tactile quality of the object. Since human feels the temperature of the air without touching other objects, it is necessary to present thermal sensation in a non-contact manner. Studies on non-contact heat display have been explored; however, few studies have reported on a device that can display cold in a non-contact manner. In this study, we propose a non-contact cold thermal display using a low-temperature heat source-vortex tube, which can generate ultra-low air temperature when supplied with compressed air. We developed a cooling model that relates the flow velocity of cold air with the absorbed heat from skin; we implemented a prototype system that can control the flow velocity of the generated air; and we conducted an experiment to examine the cold sensation that the system can present. Our results revealed that various cold sensations can be generated so that the faster the flow velocity, the colder a user would feel

Aerospace medicine and biology, an annotated bibliography. volume xi- 1962-1963 literature

Aerospace medicine and biology - annotated bibliography for 1962 and 196

Augmenting communication technologies with non-primary sensory modalities

Humans combine their senses to enhance the world around them. While computers have evolved to reflect these sensory demands, only the primary senses of vision and audition (and to an extent, touch) are used in modern communication. This thesis investigated how additional information, such as emotion and navigational assistance, might be communicated using technology-based implementations of sensory displays that output the non-primary modalities of smell, vibrotactile touch, and thermo-touch. This thesis explored using a portable atomiser sprayer to deliver emotional information via smell to mobile phone users, a ring-shaped device worn on the finger to display emotional information using vibration and colours, and an array of thermoelectric coolers worn on the arm to create temperature sensations. Additionally, this thesis explored two methods of signalling temperature using the thermal implementation, and finally, used it in a controlled study to augment the perceived emotion of text messages using temperature. There were challenges with using some of these implementations to display information. Smells produced with the scent technology were ambiguous and highly cognitive, and poor delivery to the user produced undesirable cross-adaption effects when smells lingered and mixed in the environment. The device used to communicate vibrotactile and colour lighting cues neutralized emotions in text messages. Furthermore, temperature pattern discrimination using the thermal implementation was difficult due to non-linear interaction effects that occurred on the skin’s surface, as well as latency resulting from the thermal neurological pathway and the technology used to heat and cool the skin. However, the thermal implementation enabled more accurate user discrimination between thermal signals than what a single stimulator design provided. Furthermore, the utility of continuous thermal feedback, in the context of spatial navigation, was demonstrated, which improved user performance compared to when the user was not presented with any thermal information. Finally, temperature was demonstrated to elicit arousal reactions across subjects using the thermal implementation, and could augment the arousal of text messages, especially when the content of the message was strongly neutral. However, no similar statistical significance was observed with valence, demonstrating the complex implications of using thermal cues to convey emotional information

Neurofly 2008 abstracts : the 12th European Drosophila neurobiology conference 6-10 September 2008 Wuerzburg, Germany

This volume consists of a collection of conference abstracts

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 279)

This bibliography lists 175 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in December 1985

Mental Representation and Closely Conflated Topics

This dissertation argues that mental representation is identical to phenomenal consciousness, and everything else that appears to be both mental and a matter of representation is not genuine mental representation, but either in some way derived from mental representation, or a case of non-mental representation

WALKING FOR OBJECT TRANSPORT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE COORDINATIVE ADAPTATIONS TO LOCOMOTOR, PERCEPTUAL, AND MANUAL TASK CONSTRAINTS

The goal of this dissertation was to understand how the intrinsic dynamics of gait adapt to support the performance of an ecologically relevant object transport task. A common object transport task is walking with a cup of water. Because the water can move relatively independent of the cup, the cup and water system is classified as a complex object. To model this task participants carried a cup with a wooden lid placed on top. On the lid there was a circular region with the same circumference as the cup and a ball. The object of the task was to keep the ball inside the circular region. We explored two questions: 1) how do the intrinsic coordinative gait dynamics adapt to support object transport during walking? And 2) how do individuals adapt to manually control a complex object when asked to concurrently attend to visual information? To address question 1, participants walked on a treadmill at six speeds (0.4 - 1.4 m/s) and performed three conditions: normal walking, walking with a cup only (Cup), and walking with the cup and ball (Cup-Ball). When performing the Cup-Ball condition, as gait speed increased, pelvis-thorax coordination was more in-phase compared to the normal walking and the Cup conditions. Arm-leg coordination was affected by the performance of the Cup-Ball condition. On the constrained side arm-leg coordination was 2:1 while a 1:1 relationship was maintained on the unconstrained side. A correlation between the amplitude of the unconstrained arm and manual task performance revealed a significant negative correlation as gait speed increased, indicating that individuals who reduced their arm swing performed better. To address question 2, participants walked on a treadmill at three gait speeds under four task conditions: normal walking, walking with the cup and ball system (Cup-Ball), walking while identifying visual stimuli (Visual), and a combined condition where participants walked with the cup and ball system while identifying visual stimuli (Cup-Ball-Vis). The addition of the visual task in study 2 resulted in the head orientation to be more extended relative to the trunk with a larger range of motion compared to the manual task only condition; participants optimized on the visual task at the expense of manual task performance. In both manual task conditions pelvis-thorax coordination was more in-phase as gait speed increased and more variable compared to the walking only condition. The latter result demonstrates the functionality of increased coordination variability during object transport tasks. The amplitude of the unconstrained arm decreased as the system became more constrained (i.e., going from walking only to Cup-Ball to Cup-Ball-Vis tasks). Although the arm amplitude decreased, the unconstrained arm maintained a 1:1 arm-leg coordination while the constrained arm was in a 2:1 relationship for both manual task conditions. This result demonstrates that the unconstrained arm continues to move to counteract angular momentum imparted by the legs while the arm carrying the object is coupled to the step frequency, counteracting disturbances imposed by heel contacts. The overall results from both studies demonstrate that the body’s natural walking dynamics adapt to support manual task performance. The segments not directly involved in the task continue to interact to maintain intrinsic gait dynamics. This dissertation makes significant contributions to the literature by demonstrating: 1) asymmetries in arm-leg coordination are exploited by the body to maintain manual task performance and intrinsic gait dynamics; 2) amplitude of the freely swinging arm is an important factor in task performance during object transport; and 3) increased variability at the level of the pelvis-thorax interaction plays a functional role in maintaining both manual and visual task performance. The significance of the findings here is that they demonstrate how task constraints alter intrinsic coordination dynamics during walking in order to support performance while at the same time maintaining gait stabilit

FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CALCIUM DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE 32 FROM ARABIDOPSIS

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs) are major plant Ca2+ sensors, many of which have roles in plant stress responses. The Arabidopsis genome encodes 34 CPK isoforms. Here we report characterization of AtCPK32 gene function. Analysis of transgenic plants expressing pCPK32-GUS shows that CPK32 is highly expressed in roots, pollen and embryo, as well as leaf hydathodes, and the abscission zone of mature siliques. Real time RT-PCR and promoter expression patterns show that CPK32 is responsive to abiotic and biotic stresses. Plants treated with salt, ABA, osmotic stress (PEG), wounding, and flagellin 22 peptide show up-regulation of CPK32 upon these stress treatments. The overexpression of CPK32 results in ABA and salt insensitive phenotypes whereas disruption of CPK32 gene by T&ndashDNA insertion leads to ABA and salt hypersensitive phenotypes in seed germination and early seedling growth assays. Interestingly, CPK32 overexpression plants are sensitive to drought whereas cpk32&ndash1 mutant plants are drought resistant suggesting that ABA and salt might be operating independent of drought stress tolerance. In a protoplast transient expression assay CPK32 is localized to the plasma membrane. Upon ABA treatment, CPK32 quickly moves from the plasma membrane to the cytosol and nucleus. Two key posttranslational modifications, myristoylation and palmitoylation play a crucial role in sub-cellular targeting of CPK32 to the plasma membrane. Mutation of these acylation sites leads to cytosolic and nuclear localization of CPK32 protein. Together our data provides evidence that CPK32 is a negative regulator of ABA signaling and is involved in multiple stress signaling pathways