Cutaneous Grooves: Composing for the Sense of Touch

What if the traditional relationship between touch and music was essentially turned upside down, making the tactile sensation the aesthetic end? This paper presents a novel coupling of haptics technology and music, introducing the notion of tactile composition or aesthetic composition for the sense of touch. A system that facilitates the composition and perception of intricate, musically structured spatio-temporal patterns of vibration on the surface of the body is described. Relevant work from disciplines including sensory substitution, electronic musical instrument design, simulation design, entertainment technology, and visual music is considered. The psychophysical parameter space for our sense of touch is summarized and the building blocks of a compositional language for touch are explored. A series of concerts held for the skin and ears is described, as well as some of the lessons learned along the way. In conclusion, some potential evolutionary branches of tactile composition are posited.

Self-perception in overweight and obese children: a cross-sectional study

Aim The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between obesity and self-esteem in children in relation to specific domains of their self-perception, and further to explore the extent to which this may vary by gender and economic circumstances. Method A total of 211 children aged 8–9 years drawn from both advantaged and disadvantaged areas of Belfast completed the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children and measures of body mass index were obtained. Results Overweight, impoverished children had significantly reduced social acceptance and physical competence scores. Boys had significantly lower scores than girls in the behavioural conduct domain. Girls had significantly lower scores than boys for the athletic competence. Conclusion These results suggest that risk factors of increased weight and impoverished backgrounds have a combined negative effect, placing some children at increased risk of having lower self-perceptions in some, but not all domains. Health interventions for childhood obesity should consider the likelihood of specific relationships between physical and psychosocial factors.

Artificial gravity reveals that economy of action determines the stability of sensorimotor coordination.

Background
When we move along in time with a piece of music, we synchronise the downward phase of our gesture with the beat. While it is easy to demonstrate this tendency, there is considerable debate as to its neural origins. It may have a structural basis, whereby the gravitational field acts as an orientation reference that biases the formulation of motor commands. Alternatively, it may be functional, and related to the economy with which motion assisted by gravity can be generated by the motor system.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We used a robotic system to generate a mathematical model of the gravitational forces acting upon the hand, and then to reverse the effect of gravity, and invert the weight of the limb. In these circumstances, patterns of coordination in which the upward phase of rhythmic hand movements coincided with the beat of a metronome were more stable than those in which downward movements were made on the beat. When a normal gravitational force was present, movements made down-on-the-beat were more stable than those made up-on-the-beat.
Conclusions/Significance
The ubiquitous tendency to make a downward movement on a musical beat arises not from the perception of gravity, but as a result of the economy of action that derives from its exploitation.