Feeling fine - the effect of topography and friction on perceived roughness and slipperiness

(1) Background. To design materials with specific haptic qualities, it is important to understand both the contribution of physical attributes from the surfaces of the materials and the perceptions that are involved in the haptic interaction. (2) Methods. A series of 16 wrinkled surfaces consisting of two similar materials of different elastic modulus and 8 different wrinkle wavelengths were characterized in terms of surface roughness and tactile friction coefficient. Sixteen participants scaled the perceived Roughness and Slipperiness of the surfaces using free magnitude estimation. Friction experiments were performed both by participants and by a trained experimenter with higher control. (3) Results and discussion. The trends in friction properties were similar for the group of participants performing the friction measurements in an uncontrolled way and the experiments performed under well-defined conditions, showing that the latter type of measurements represent the general friction properties well. The results point to slipperiness as the key perception dimension for textures below 100 μm and roughness above 100 μm. Furthermore, it is apparent that roughness and slipperiness perception of these types of structures are not independent. The friction is related to contact area between finger and material. Somewhat surprising was that the material with the higher elastic modulus was perceived as more slippery. A concluding finding was that the flat (high friction) reference surfaces were scaled as rough, supporting the theory that perceived roughness itself is a multidimensional construct with both surface roughness and friction components.