| The skin is the largest sensory organ of the human body. It comprises both tactile and kinesthetic modalities which form the basis for haptic perception. The skin contains four types of mechanoreceptors, differing in adaptation rate and size of their receptive fields, which are responsible for tactual form and roughness perception as well as texture discrimination.
The information-acquisition and -processing capabilities of skin related senses rival those of the visual and auditory systems. Spatial patterns learned visually can be identified tactually and vice versa. Tactile displays allow experienced users to identify common objects and people's faces. Women are two to nine times more sensitive than men to mechanical non vibrating stimulation.
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Expertise and background knowledge in natural sciences, engineering and design forms the basis and prerequisite for the development of an e-Skin interface. The following section outlines briefly the main scientific fields as they relate to this project.
