Skip to main content

Assessment of Perceived Intensity and Thermal Comfort Associated with Area of Warm Stimulation to the Waist

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Haptics: Science, Technology, and Applications (EuroHaptics 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10894))

  • 4312 Accesses

Abstract

A wearable thermal stimulation device can easily provide a thermally comfortable environment that suits personal preferences using lower electric power than air conditioning devices. This study investigates the influence of an area of warm stimulation on the waist to efficiently design a device that can provide higher thermal comfort to users. A device that could apply warmth on the waist by using four thermal units that utilize the Peltier element was developed. The experiment performed to determine spatial perception showed that the participants could not recognize a difference in the spatial pattern of stimulation using the developed device correctly. Furthermore, the results of experiments that evaluated the perceived intensity and the comfort indicated that a larger area of warm stimulation increased not only the perceived intensity but also the thermal comfort, whereas the intensity of the stimulation had less effect on the thermal comfort than the perceived intensity. Therefore, it is better to increase the area rather than the intensity of warm stimulation to improve the comfort provided by the thermal device.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Arens, E., Zhang, H.: The skin’s role in human thermoregulation and comfort. In: Pan, N., Gibson, P. (eds.) Thermal and Moisture Transport in Fibrous Materials, pp. 560–602. Woodhead Publishing Ltd. (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. Nakamura, M., Yoda, T., Crawshaw, L., Yasuhara, S., Saito, Y., Kasuga, M., Nagashima, K., Kanosue, K.: Regional differences in temperature sensation and thermal comfort in humans. J. Appl. Physiol. 105, 1897–1906 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jones, L.A., Ho, H.-N.: Warm or cool, large or small? The challenge of thermal displays. IEEE Trans. Haptics 1(1), 53–70 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hardy, J.D., Oppel, T.W.: Studies in temperature sensation. III. The sensitivity of the body to heat and the spatial summation of the end organ responses. J. Clin. Invest. 16, 533–540 (1937)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Stevens, J.C., Marks, L.E.: Spatial summation and the dynamics of warmth sensation. Percept. Psychophys. 9, 391–398 (1971)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kenshalo, D.R., Decker, T., Hamilton, A.: Comparisons of spatial summation on the forehead, forearm, and back produced by radiant and conducted heat. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 63, 510–515 (1967)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cain, W.S.: Spatial discrimination of cutaneous warmth. Am. J. Psychology 86, 169–181 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Simmel, M.L., Shapiro, A.: The localization of non-tactile thermal sensations. Psychophysiology 5, 415–425 (1969)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by JST ACCEL Grant Number JPMJAC1404 (Embodied Media Project) and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 17H01956.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katsunari Sato .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Sato, K., Usui, M. (2018). Assessment of Perceived Intensity and Thermal Comfort Associated with Area of Warm Stimulation to the Waist. In: Prattichizzo, D., Shinoda, H., Tan, H., Ruffaldi, E., Frisoli, A. (eds) Haptics: Science, Technology, and Applications. EuroHaptics 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10894. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93399-3_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93399-3_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93398-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93399-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics