Aristotle classified touch, along with vision, hearing, smell, and taste, as one of the five main senses. The tactile system is the first sense to emerge in the womb and stands as the largest sensory system within the human body.
From the very start of our lives, the sense of touch plays a significant role in how we experience the world. It helps us connect with our surroundings and people around us. As babies start exploring, the things they feel with their hands and bodies are crucial for learning how to move, express emotions, and think. Different tactile sensations range from light touch to deep pressure, to pain and temperature, traction, and the variety of tactile qualities of objects around us. Because there is a relationship between the tactile system and our emotional centers in the brain, we relate many tactile experiences as pleasurable or not pleasurable based on past experiences and expectations. This is also because, in infancy, tactile experiences are the dominant form of communication between the infant and caregivers (Hill, 2021). So, the sense of touch isn’t just about feeling things – it’s a big part of how we learn and connect with the world.
Tactile sense is one of the essential components of our sensory systems that each of us possesses. We can have either an active or passive touch sense. Active touch refers to what is ordinarily called touching. This ought to be distinguished from passive touch, or being touched (Gibson, 1962). According to Gibson, active touch is defined by deliberate movement and leads to objective knowledge about surfaces in the external environment, whereas passive touch, in which the observer is not free to move, promotes subjective experiences and inattention to the object. Voluntary movement enables the perceiver to identify the invariants in stimulus that specifies shapes and occurrences (Observations on active touch,1962). Active touch is often described as yielding „better-quality“ information than passive touch. However, some authors have argued that passive-guided movements generate superior percepts due to a reduction in demands on the haptic sensory system (Van Doorn, Dubaj, et. al., 2012).
Through our touch sense, we are able to perceive the surface of various objects, animal life, etc. in our daily lives. However, while we are touching other things, other things are also touching us. Therefore, tactile sense is mutual. (Wang & Li, 2014). Like all senses, the sense of touch allows us to gather information about the people and things in the world around us. What sets touch apart is its intimacy, as it requires direct contact with skin, the sensory organ of tactile sensation (Jenkins & Lumpkin, 2017).
The significance of tactile awareness in design has grown increasingly important in our technologically driven environment. As we go to online platforms, designers must remember that consumers are human beings with senses. Beyond the visual and auditory aspects prevalent in digital design, tactile elements play a pivotal role in establishing a profound connection between users and the design. The incorporation of tactile elements, whether physical or simulated in digital interfaces, enhances the overall user experience and fosters deeper connectivity with clients. As the digital landscape evolves, the integration of tactile elements becomes a strategic imperative, creating a more immersive and authentic user experience in our increasingly digitalized world.
Sources:
- Hill, J. (2021). What is the tactile system?. Harkla. Retrieved from https://harkla.co/blogs/special-needs/tactile-system
- Wang, Q., & Li, H. (2014). Analysis on tactile field in current graphic vision design. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Science and Social Research. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2991/icssr-14.2014.235
- Jenkins, B. A., & Lumpkin, E. A. (2017, November 15). Developing a sense of touch. Development (Cambridge, England). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5719243/
- Van Doorn, G. H., Dubaj, V., Wuillemin, D. B., Richardson, B. L., & Symmons, M. A. (2012). Cognitive load can explain differences in active and passive touch. Haptics: Perception, Devices, Mobility, and Communication, 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31401-8_9
- Gibson, J. J. (1962). Observations on active touch. Psychological Review, 69(6), 477–491. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046962
