Perception of the material properties of wood based on vision, audition, and touch

What the study found

Fifty participants rated 22 wood types, genuine, processed and fake, using vision, sound or touch alone. Affective evaluations were similar across all three senses, grouping into one cluster (expensive, sturdy, rare, interesting, sophisticated) and another (pleasant, relaxed, liked).

Limitations

Material samples, not rooms; brief evaluations.

Neurodesign interpretation

Suggests the senses agree about wood's affective qualities, which complicates claims that touch detects what vision misses.

Possible design implications

Hypothesis: how a wood surface sounds and feels may carry the same affective message as how it looks.

Study design

Ratings of 22 wood types by vision, audition or touch in isolation

Population

Adult participants. Sample: 50.

Setting

Laboratory

Field

Materials + haptics

Mechanism

Multisensory congruence

Spatial variable

Wood exposure, Material texture

Keywords

wood, material perception, vision, audition, touch, affect

Notes and follow-up

Related records: ND-0163, ND-0164, ND-0081.