Advancements in movement restoration have accelerated in recent years while the restoration of somatosensation has progressed relatively slowly. This dissertation attempts to partially correct this oversight by developing an electrotactile feedback system that might be used to restore the sense of touch.Initially, the perceptual parameters of the skin regions likely to be used as a source of tactile information (the fingertip) and as a destination for electrotactile feedback (the back of the neck) were evaluated. The perceptual parameters of tactile threshold sensitivity, spatial acuity, and gain scaling were collected from subjects for both regions of skin. These same parameters were also gathered in response to electrotactile stimulation of the neck. The threshold sensitivity and spatial acuity of the fingertip was found to be far superior to that on the back of the neck, yet the mechanical perceptual gain scaling parameters of the neck were similar to that of the finger tip. Yet, the psychometric functions for electrical stimulation on the neck differed markedly in gain sensitivity from that of mechanical stimulation. A mapping function between the two modalities was then calculated based upon the tactile and electrotacile characterization data that was collected.An electrotactile feedback system was then developed based upon the calculated mapping function, allowing conversion of force applied to an artificial sensor on the fingertip to a perceptually equivalent electrical stimulus on the neck. The system proved to be quite effective: Subjects were able to effectively evaluate electrical stimulus that was derived from application of force to the sensor on the fingertip. The perceptual gain scaling for the feedback system matched that of natural mechanical stimulation.A grip force matching task was evaluated in test subjects under three conditions: a) normal tactile sensation, b) anesthesia of the fingers, and c) anesthesia of the fingers with restored tactile information via the electrotactile feedback system. The relative loss in grip-force matching ability when tactile feedback was abolished by local anesthetic was mild, indicating a strong ability for individuals to generate target force levels using other forms of feedback. Electrotactile feedback, therefore, offered only modest improvement when deployed in the anesthetized hand.

As we emerge into an age of hyperconnectivity, technology becomes increasingly pervasive in our daily lives. And with this change, our behavior and values progressively shift towards instant access, constant availability and multi-tasking. Recent research studies in cognitive psychology have indicated a change in the wiring of our brain due to these behavior shifts.  In this thesis project, technology’s role in our lives was explored, particularly within the context of home, a traditionally restorative environment.  By identifying key problem areas from user research and drawing inspirations from slow technology and other relevant fields of expertise, key concepts were conceptualized. The result is a collection of computer-mediated objects designed to support downtime and reflective behavior, as well as, integrate into our everyday living.

Storytelling is a powerful means of communication that has been employed by humankind from the early stages of development. As technology has advanced, the medium through which people tell stories has evolved from verbal, to writing, performing on stage, and more recently television, movies, and video games. A promising medium for the telling of stories in an in-person, one-on-one or one-to-many setting is a digital table—a large, horizontal multi-touch surface—that can provide quick access to visuals and narrative elements at the touch of one’s hands and fingers. In this work, I present the results of an exploratory study on storytellers’ interaction behaviours while working with digital tables, and its physical counterparts of sand and water. My results highlight some of the differences in these media that can both help and hinder a storyteller’s narrative process. I use these findings to present design implications for the design of applications for storytelling on digital multi-touch surfaces.

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In this research, I unthread the role of the body in sculpture by applying a model of thinking through the body to generate alternative ways of thinking about and working with the body sculpturally. Breaking away from a dominance of the figure over the body in sculptural practice, I deconstruct the figure through a consideration of the senses and the relationship between interior and exterior spaces of the body. Looking neither inwards towards a hidden core, nor outwards from the subconscious, I instead look orthogonally across the skin as a way to overcome the figure, using the surface of the body as a mode for both looking and thinking. To achieve this, I start by undertaking a re-­‐description of skin based upon an interaction between artist, object, space, and viewer rather than as something that divides or contains these elements, assuming an equality and equilibrium of the body between maker and viewer. Moving beyond a bi-­‐directional model, I propose a multi-­‐directional and pervasive model of skin as a space in which body and world mingle. I explore this mingling through a reconsideration of tactility in sculpture, drawing on the active body in both making and interpreting sculpture to address processes of imaginative touch and proprioceptive sensation in sculptural practice. I argue that imaginative touch is a key aspect in engaging the body of the viewer that can be manipulated by the way in which materials are handled, generating proprioceptive sensation. This project re-­‐describes tactility within sculpture as something ultimately more complex than the touching of artworks, as a process intertwined with the visual. Mapping out the projection of the tactile body, this research follows the tracing process of the body rather than the trace of the body itself, exploring touch as revealing the way in which we perceive sculpture.

In almost all collaborative tabletop tasks, groups require coordinated access to the shared objects on the table’s surface. The physical social norms of close-proximity interactions built up over years of interacting around other physical bodies cause people to avoid interfering with other people (e.g., avoiding grabbing the same object simultaneously). However, some digital tabletop situations require the use of indirect input (e.g., when using mice, and when supporting remote users). With indirect input, people are no longer physically embodied during their reaching gestures, so most systems provide digital embodiments – visual representations of each person – to provide feedback to both the person who is reaching and to the other group members. Tabletop arm embodiments have been shown to better support group interactions than simple visual designs, providing awareness of actions to the group. However, researchers and digital tabletop designers know little of how the design of digital arm embodiments affects the fundamental group tabletop interaction of reaching for objects. Therefore, in this thesis, we evaluate how people coordinate their interactions over digital tabletops when using different types of embodiments. Specifically, in a series of studies, we investigate how the visual design (what they look like) and interaction design (how they work) of digital arm embodiments affects a group’s coordinative behaviours in an open- ended parallel tabletop task. We evaluated visual factors of size, transparency, and realism (through pictures and videos of physical arms), as well as interaction factors of input and augmentations (feedback of interactions), in both a co-located and distributed environment. We found that the visual design had little effect on a group’s ability to coordinate access to shared tabletop items, that embodiment augmentations are useful to support group coordinative actions, and that there are large differences when the person is not physically co-present. Our results demonstrate an initial exploration into the design of digital arm embodiments, providing design guidelines for future researchers and designers to use when designing the next generation of shared digital spaces.

Arbetsmarknadens förändringar i form av högre arbetstakt, tillfälliga anställningar och krav på flexibla arbetsvillkor, gör att allt fler upplever stress i arbetslivet. Långvarig stress medför stora hälsorisker för individen. Eftersom många av dagens sjukskrivningar beror på stressrelaterade sjukdomar, såsom depression och utmattning är det viktigt att studera metoder för stresshantering på arbetsplatsen. Beröring i form av massage kan minska stress hos individer samt fungerar som ett komplement i behandlingen för stressrelaterade sjukdomar. Ett fältexperiment med 28 tjänstemän utfördes för att undersöka om en kortvarig massage på arbetstid kunde inverka positivt på den arbetsrelaterade stressen jämfört med en avslappningsövning och vanlig rast. Studien visade signifikant minskning av stressnivån efter massageinterventionen. Resultatet ger en antydan om att upplevelsen av stress går att reducera med hjälp av fysisk beröring. Stickprovets storlek samt förväntnings- effektens inverkan på resultatet diskuteras.

The purpose of this investigation was to describe patterns of physical self-efficacy and touch communication attitudes, by gender. The understanding of these two cognitive measures may contribute to the foundation for explaining the dynamics of physical, social, and emotional wellness or at least contribute to the current literature and serve as a guide for future research. Two undergraduate health science classes, consisting of 130 males and 158 females, were surveyed with a combined instrument that measured physical self-efficacy, using the Physical Self-Efficacy Inventory developed by Ryckman and colleagues (1982), and touch communication, using the TACTYPE instrument developed by Hines (1978). A secondary purpose of this study was to describe the subscale relationships between the two aforementioned instruments. Frequency tables and summary statistics were computed to describe physical self-efficacy and touch communication total scores. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to describe subscale relationships. A gender difference for total physical self-efficacy was noted. In addition, some significant, but relatively weak, correlations were described between the two instruments' subscales. This writing includes: (a) An introduction, (b) a literature review that introduces wellness, explains physical self-efficacy and touch communication, and describes their relationship to health, (c) a synopsis of the research method, (d) a descriptive report of the findings, and (e) a summary with discussion, conclusions and recommendations for future study. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

This thesis focuses on the aesthetics of the sense of touch – haptic aesthetics – in contemporary Canadian diasporic literature. My reading of diasporic embodiment will discuss three contemporary novels, Anne Michaels’s Fugitive Pieces (1996), Dionne Brand’s What We All Long For (2005), and David Chariandy’s Soucouyant (2007), for what these novels suggest about the incoherent nature of cultural boundaries and the alternative possibilities for embodiment and community formation through an analysis of the sense of touch. Set in the urban and suburban spaces of Toronto, Ontario, these narratives represent diasporic bodies and experiences less through concrete acts of social, historical, or biomedical identification, and more so through creative tactile and affective gestures of agency and community. I explore the ways in which diasporic subjects in these novels negotiate their biomedical, sociocultural, and geographic positions through haptic metaphoric processes of what I call “skin diving.” / Graduate / 0401 / 0352 / 0422 / nbirchbayley@gmail.com

This thesis investigates two different approaches to improving access to the Web for visually impaired people: the design of Web content; and the presentation of content. The potential for improving the design of Web content was investigated in an evaluation of the usability of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the Web Accessibility Initiative. Student Web page authors used the Guidelines to adapt Web pages containing various elements (such as images and tables). These pages were collated into a Web site, which was evaluated by visually impaired people. The page authors found it difficult to find the information they required in the Guidelines document, and had difficulties with implementing the advice of the guidelines. The visually impaired people who evaluated the pages found that the extent of the accessibility of the different elements varied depending on the individual’s experience of using the Web, and the software they used. The accessibility of some elements was not improved by the implementation of the guidelines. The potential for improving the presentation of Web content was investigated using a haptic device. The perception of virtual textures and objects by blind and sighted people via this device was examined. It was found that the virtual textures were perceived differently to the real textures examined in the literature, and that the blind people could better discriminate between the textures than the sighted people could. The virtual objects were explored from the inside and from the outside. It was found that objects generally felt larger from the inside than from the outside. This has been termed the ‘Tardis’ effect. The thesis concludes that it is difficult to define what we mean by ‘accessibility’. Without a clear definition it is not possible to judge whether a Web site is ‘truly’ accessible. The difficulties in making Web content fully accessible mean that additional methods are required for presenting the content in different ways. The researcher believes that haptic devices offer one such method, and could be particularly useful in presenting information that is visual in nature, such as information laid out in columns.