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Abstract
Aristotle designated touch as the most primitive sense – not due to its crudeness, but because of its primal nature as a holistic or “common” sense. This article explores the complexities of mimicking touch within the context of artificial intelligence (AI).
As machine learning integrates with sensor technology, AI's capabilities are expanding beyond text and visual generation to encompass multisensory experiences. In developing these multisensory interfaces, researchers have optimized artificial skin sensors that detect touch and can recognize handwriting on the surfaces of so-called skin pads (Balaji and Peh). This article investigates the logics of touch emerging from such technological advancements through case studies of contemporary examples of artificial touch in the fields of computer engineering and art, compared with case studies of historical examples of artificial touch.
The article analyzes contemporary forms of artificial touch, including artificial skin pads, long-distance kissing devices, and the artistic endeavor of creating an artificial creature with perspiring skin (Gaetano-Adi). These technologies, each in their own way, renegotiate entanglements between technologies, humans, and their surrounding environment.
The analyses are historically contextualized by drawing parallels to the American writer Helen Keller (1880-1968) – who, being both blind and deaf, learned Braille through touch, which served as her primary interface with the world – and to the Aesthesiometer, a 19th-century psychophysics device developed to measure skin sensitivity.
The historical foundations of converting touch into data trace back to 19th-century psychophysics, which aimed to objectively measure subjective human sensation through controlled experimentation (Fretwell). Psychophysics laid the groundwork for modern psychology and empirical aesthetics. The article critically examines these trajectories to problematize the notion of aesthetics informing contemporary efforts of mimic tactile experience.
As machine learning integrates with sensor technology, AI's capabilities are expanding beyond text and visual generation to encompass multisensory experiences. In developing these multisensory interfaces, researchers have optimized artificial skin sensors that detect touch and can recognize handwriting on the surfaces of so-called skin pads (Balaji and Peh). This article investigates the logics of touch emerging from such technological advancements through case studies of contemporary examples of artificial touch in the fields of computer engineering and art, compared with case studies of historical examples of artificial touch.
The article analyzes contemporary forms of artificial touch, including artificial skin pads, long-distance kissing devices, and the artistic endeavor of creating an artificial creature with perspiring skin (Gaetano-Adi). These technologies, each in their own way, renegotiate entanglements between technologies, humans, and their surrounding environment.
The analyses are historically contextualized by drawing parallels to the American writer Helen Keller (1880-1968) – who, being both blind and deaf, learned Braille through touch, which served as her primary interface with the world – and to the Aesthesiometer, a 19th-century psychophysics device developed to measure skin sensitivity.
The historical foundations of converting touch into data trace back to 19th-century psychophysics, which aimed to objectively measure subjective human sensation through controlled experimentation (Fretwell). Psychophysics laid the groundwork for modern psychology and empirical aesthetics. The article critically examines these trajectories to problematize the notion of aesthetics informing contemporary efforts of mimic tactile experience.
| Translated title of the contribution | Den kunstige berørings æstetik |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Journal | Culture Machine |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | The Aesthetics of Biomachines |
| ISSN | 1465-4121 |
| Publication status | In preparation - 2025 |
Projects
- 1 Active
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NEW VISIONS: Image cultures in the era of AI
Philipsen, L. (PI), Bak Herrie, M. (PI) & Michelsen, L. L. N. (PI)
01/12/2022 → 31/12/2026
Project: Research