Exploring Thermal Perception

To develop a VR immersive thermal display, it’s important to know how human perceive and interpret thermal stimuli and what kind of information can be conveyed to the user through the thermal stimuli. If we can utilize thermal stimuli in the same way as it affects human in real world, it’s possible to simulate the real world in thermal aspect. So my subject here is to prove the hypothesis: thermal stimuli on body extremities lead to different recognition and interpretation. I conducted three experiment to exam the thermal perception on forehead, on wrist and on the bottom of foot. In the research, I successfully present spatial awareness and passing-through illusion to user and also introduce some principle for the thermal experience design on the foot.