The influence of material cues on early grasping force

The object of this study was to see whether differences in texture influence grip force in the very early phase of grasping an object. Subjects were asked to pick up objects with different textures either blindfolded or sighted, while grip force was measured. Maximum force was found to be adjusted to suit the differences in coefficient of friction, confirming earlier results. Surprisingly, statistically significant differences in grip force were already present as short as 10 ms after touch onset in the blindfolded condition, despite the fact that only haptic information about the texture was available. This suggests that the haptic system is very fast in identifying a texture’s friction. The object of this study was to see whether differences in texture influence grip force in the very early phase of grasping an object. Subjects were asked to pick up objects with different textures either blindfolded or sighted, while grip force was measured. Maximum force was found to be adjusted to suit the differences in coefficient of friction, confirming earlier results. Surprisingly, statistically significant differences in grip force were already present as short as 10 ms after touch onset in the blindfolded condition, despite the fact that only haptic information about the texture was available. This suggests that the haptic system is very fast in identifying a texture’s friction