Tactile perceptual dimensions: a study with light-weight wool fabrics

Volume 5024 of the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
The aim of this study was to identify the tactile dimensions
in the discrimination of light-weight wool fabrics. The participants
judged the overall similarity between 21 light-weight wool fabrics using
free sorting tasks. The fabrics were evaluated using active touch with limited
exploratory procedure. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to
generate the perceptual space, revealing one dimension of tactile perception.
Finally, through regression analysis we were able to interpret this
dimension, using verbal attributes and physical properties of the fabrics.
We discuss the relevance of the stimuli properties and the associations
between verbal attributes and between physical properties, on the evaluation
of the fabrics, considering its theoretical implications.