A research team from Queen Mary University of London has discovered that humans, similar to some animals, may possess a remote touch capability, even without the necessary sensory organs. Human hands are reportedly so sensitive that mechanical reflections can be detected, at least in sand.
Some animals, such as the shorebird species sandpipers or plovers, can locate their prey in sand without seeing or touching it. They use sensors in their beaks to detect subtle mechanical movements through pressure changes in the sand, which are transmitted through the medium.
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London wanted to find out if humans, in principle, have similar remote touch capabilities. They documented their findings in the study [“Exploring Tactile Perception for Object Localiza…
A research team from Queen Mary University of London has discovered that humans, similar to some animals, may possess a remote touch capability, even without the necessary sensory organs. Human hands are reportedly so sensitive that mechanical reflections can be detected, at least in sand.
Some animals, such as the shorebird species sandpipers or plovers, can locate their prey in sand without seeing or touching it. They use sensors in their beaks to detect subtle mechanical movements through pressure changes in the sand, which are transmitted through the medium.
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London wanted to find out if humans, in principle, have similar remote touch capabilities. They documented their findings in the study “Exploring Tactile Perception for Object Localization in Granular Media: A Human and Robotic Study”, which was published in the IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL).
Sensitive Hands
To investigate this, the researchers had participants locate cubes buried in sand using only their fingertips before physically touching them. The results indicated that human hands react with extreme sensitivity and can detect tiny shifts around the buried cubes. Mechanical reflections in sand or other granular materials can thus be detected, provided it is an object with stable surfaces.
In another experimental setup, the researchers compared human capabilities with the performance of a tactile robot sensor trained with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) algorithm. A UR5 robot arm moved the sensor through the sand to locate buried cubes before physical contact. Compared to human hands, the robot sensor performed significantly worse, achieving only a 40 percent detection accuracy. Humans, on the other hand, achieved an accuracy of 70.7 percent.
From these results, the scientists conclude that humans can sense objects in sand without touching them, even though they do not possess specifically designed biological sensors for this purpose. These human capabilities had not been documented before.
The researchers believe that these findings can also lead to improvements in tactile sensor technology for robots by imitating human perceptual abilities. Robot systems could thus conduct surveys and archaeological excavations in poor visibility and be used in search missions in sandy soil, such as on seabeds.
(olb)
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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.