Emergent patterns of interaction with dynamic objects

Area of Science:

• Haptic perception and motor control
• Human-computer interaction
• Robotics and embodied AI

Background:

• Touch perception is closely linked to the motor system.
• Haptic exploration often involves stereotyped movement patterns (exploratory procedures) for specific perceptual goals.
• Previous research focused on goal-directed haptic interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate spontaneous haptic interaction patterns when individuals encounter novel objects without predefined goals.
• To understand how object properties and dynamic changes influence interaction strategies.
• To explore the relationship between haptic exploration, prior knowledge, and perceptual outcomes in unconstrained settings.

Main Methods:

• Participants freely interacted with novel objects in an art installation.
• Object properties (familiarity, affordance, aesthetics) and state (stiffness, plasticity via jamming) were manipulated.
• Video recordings analyzed to identify and categorize spontaneous interactive procedures.
• Statistical analysis to determine the influence of object features and state changes on interaction patterns.

Main Results:

• Four categories of spontaneous interactive procedures were identified: passive observational, active perceptual, constructive, and hedonic.
• Active perceptual actions, aimed at acquiring physical property information, were the most frequent.
• Interaction patterns varied based on object affordances and individual prior knowledge.
• Object state changes (stiffness/plasticity) and jamming increased interaction duration.

Conclusions:

• Haptic exploration extends beyond explicitly goal-directed tasks, involving spontaneous interactive procedures.
• Perceptual goals, influenced by object affordances and prior knowledge, drive spontaneous haptic interactions.
• Dynamic changes in object properties significantly modulate interaction behavior and duration.
• Findings reveal how unconstrained haptic exploration in complex environments relates to information acquisition and prior experience.