Abstract
Viscosity is a liquid’s resistance against flow. Using a discrimination experiment, the human ability to distinguish between different viscosities was measured over the range of 200–20,000 mPa.s. Eight blindfolded subjects stirred pairs of different silicone oils using a wooden spatula and had to indicate the “thicker” of the two. The viscosity of the liquids was measured seperately using a rheometer. Weber fractions for discrimination ranged from 0.3 at high viscosities to almost 1 at the lowest viscosity. For the higher viscosities, discrimination could be described as Weber-like, but for the low viscosities, there seemed to be a floor effect for the absolute threshold. The characterisation of the discrimination threshold as a function of viscosity is of fundamental interest in perception research, but also of practical value for designers of haptic devices capable of displaying viscosity.
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Bergmann Tiest, W.M., Vrijling, A.C.L., Kappers, A.M.L. (2010). Haptic Perception of Viscosity. In: Kappers, A.M.L., van Erp, J.B.F., Bergmann Tiest, W.M., van der Helm, F.C.T. (eds) Haptics: Generating and Perceiving Tangible Sensations. EuroHaptics 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6191. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14064-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14064-8_5
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