TOUCHLESS: Demonstrations of Contactless Haptics for Affective Touch

A set of demonstrators of contactless haptic principles is described in this work. The technologies are based on electrostatic piloerection, chemical compounds and ultrasound. Additionally, applications related to affective touch are presented, ranging from storytelling to biosignal transfer, accompanied with a simple application to edit dynamic tactile patterns in an easy way. The demonstrators are the result of the Touchless project, which is a H2020 european collaborative project that integrates 3 universities and 3 companies. These demostrators are contactless haptic experiences and thus facilitate the come-and-interact paradigm, where users can approach the demo booth and directly experience the applications without having to wear devices, making the experience fast and hygienic

TOUCHLESS: demonstrations of contactless haptics for affective touch

A set of demonstrators of contactless haptic principles is described in this work. The technologies are based on electrostatic piloerection, chemical compounds and ultrasound. Additionally, applications related to affective touch are presented, ranging from storytelling to biosignal transfer, accompanied with a simple application to edit dynamic tactile patterns in an easy way. The demonstrators are the result of the Touchless project, which is a H2020 european collaborative project that integrates 3 universities and 3 companies. These demostrators are contactless haptic experiences and thus facilitate the come-and-interact paradigm, where users can approach the demo booth and directly experience the applications without having to wear devices, making the experience fast and hygienic.Funded by EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement No 101017746 TOUCHLESS

The voluntary control of piloerection

Autonomic nervous systems in the human body are named for their operation outside of conscious control. One rare exception is voluntarily generated piloerection (VGP)—the conscious ability to induce goosebumps—whose physiological study, to our knowledge, is confined to three single-individual case studies. Very little is known about the physiological nature and emotional correlates of this ability. The current manuscript assesses physiological, emotional, and personality phenomena associated with VGP in a sample of thirty-two individuals. Physiological descriptions obtained from the sample are consistent with previous reports, including stereotypical patterns of sensation and action. Most participants also reported that their VGP accompanies psychological states associated with affective states (e.g., awe) and experience (e.g., listening to music), and higher than typical openness to new experiences. These preliminary findings suggest that this rare and unusual physiological ability interacts with emotional and personality factors, and thus merits further study

Frisson Waves: Exploring Automatic Detection, Triggering and Sharing of Aesthetic Chills in Music Performances

Frisson is the feeling and experience of physical reactions such as shivers, tingling skin, and goosebumps. Using entrainment through facilitating interpersonal transmissions of embodied sensations, we present "Frisson Waves" with the aim to enhance live music performance experiences. "Frisson Waves" is an exploratory real-time system to detect, trigger and share frisson in a wave-like pattern over audience members during music performances. The system consists of a physiological sensing wristband for detecting frisson and a thermo-haptic neckband for inducing frisson. In a controlled environment, we evaluate detection (n=19) and triggering of frisson (n=15). Based on our findings, we conducted an in-the-wild music concert with 48 audience members using our system to share frisson. This paper summarizes a framework for accessing, triggering and sharing frisson. We report our research insights, lessons learned, and limitations of "Frisson Waves". Yan He, George Chernyshov, Jiawen Han, Dingding Zheng, Ragnar Thomsen, Danny Hynds, Muyu Liu, Yuehui Yang, Yulan Ju, Yun Suen Pai, Kouta Minamizawa, Kai Kunze, and Jamie A War

The physiological study of emotional piloerection: A systematic review and guide for future research

This paper provides an accessible review of the biological and psychological evidence to guide new and experienced researchers in the study of emotional piloerection in humans. A limited number of studies have attempted to examine the physiological and emotional correlates of piloerection in humans. However, no review has attempted to collate this evidence to guide the field as it moves forward. We first discuss the mechanisms and function of non-emotional and emotional piloerection in humans and animals. We discuss the biological foundations of piloerection as a means to understand the similarities and differences between emotional and non-emotional piloerection. We then present a systematic qualitative review (k = 24) in which we examine the physiological correlates of emotional piloerection. The analysis revealed that indices of sympathetic activation are abundant, suggesting emotional piloerection occurs with increased (phasic) skin conductance and heart rate. Measures of parasympathetic activation are lacking and no definite conclusions can be drawn. Additionally, several studies examined self-reported emotional correlates, and these correlates are discussed in light of several possible theoretical explanations for emotional piloerection. Finally, we provide an overview of the methodological possibilities available for the study of piloerection and we highlight some pressing questions researchers may wish to answer in future studies

The voluntary control of piloerection

Autonomic nervous systems in the human body are named for their operation outside of conscious control. One rare exception is voluntarily generated piloerection (VGP)—the conscious ability to induce goosebumps—whose physiological study, to our knowledge, is confined to three single-individual case studies. Very little is known about the physiological nature and emotional correlates of this ability. The current manuscript assesses physiological, emotional, and personality phenomena associated with VGP in a sample of thirty-two individuals. Physiological descriptions obtained from the sample are consistent with previous reports, including stereotypical patterns of sensation and action. Most participants also reported that their VGP accompanies psychological states associated with affective states (e.g., awe) and experience (e.g., listening to music), and higher than typical openness to new experiences. These preliminary findings suggest that this rare and unusual physiological ability interacts with emotional and personality factors, and thus merits further study

Understanding AWE: Can a Virtual Journey, Inspired by the Overview Effect, Lead to an Increased Sense of Interconnectedness?

Immersive technology, such as virtual reality, provides us with novel opportunities to create and explore affective experiences with a transformative potential mediated through awe. The profound emotion of awe, that is experienced in response to witnessing vastness and creates the need for accommodation that can lead to restructuring of one\u27s worldview and an increased feeling of connectedness. An iconic example of the powers of awe is observed in astronauts who develop instant social consciousness and strong pro-environmental values in response to the overwhelming beauty of Earth observed from space. Here on Earth, awe can also be experienced in response to observing vast natural phenomenon or even sometimes in response to some forms of art, presenting vast beauty to its audience. Can virtual reality provide a new powerful tool for reliably inducing such experiences? What are some unique potentials of this emerging medium? This paper describes the evaluation of an immersive installation “AWE”—Awe-inspiring Wellness Environment. The results indicate that the experience of being in “AWE” can elicit some components of awe emotion and induce minor cognitive shifts in participant\u27s worldview similar to the Overview Effect, while this experience also has its own attributes that might be unique to this specific medium. Comparing the results of this exploratory study to other virtual environments designed to elicit Overview Effect provides insights on the relationship between design features and participant\u27s experience. The qualitative results highlight the importance of perceived safety, personal background and familiarity with the environment, and the induction of a small visceral fear reaction as a part of the emotional arc of the virtual journey—as some of the key contributers to the affective experience of the immersive installation. Even though the observed components of awe and a few indications of cognitive shift support the potential of Virtual Reality as a transformative medium, many more iterations of the design and research tools are required before we can achieve and fully explore a profound awe-inspiring transformative experience mediated through immersive technologies

Distinguishing Between Goosebumps, Tingling, Coldness, and Shivers According to Affective Composition

The chills refers to a set of bodily sensations – goosebumps, tingling, coldness, and shivers – that accompany emotion. Maruskin, Thrash and Elliot (2012) identified two higher order clusters of chills sensations that differed in affective tone. Goosetingles tend to accompany positive emotions, tend to be elicited by reward-related stimuli, and enhance feelings of closeness with others. Coldshivers tend to accompany negative emotions, tend to be elicited by threat-related stimuli, and enhance feelings of social isolation. Factor analyses have also identified four lower order factors of chills (goosebumps, tingling, coldness, and shivers), but validity research has not established distinct nomological nets of these four sensations. The goal of this study was to test the discriminant validity of the lower order factor structure of the chills according to affective composition. Results supported my hypotheses regarding the relative locations of goosebumps, tingling, coldness, and shivers along a 12-Point Circumplex of Core Affect (Yik et al., 2011) at the Between Videos level of analysis, where goosebumps accompanied states higher on arousal, and lower on pleasure than tingling, and coldness accompanied states lower on arousal, and higher on displeasure than shivers. Reasons for an unexpected pattern of results regarding tingling at the Cell level, need to be explored in future research