Not only are enthralled by touch sensations, we rely on touch to understand objects. On page 80 of natural history of the senses it is said, "We set in motion our complex web of touch receptors making them fire by exposing them to a sensation, changing it, exposing them to another. The brain reads the firings and stop-firings like Morse code and registers smooth, raspy, cold." My attention was drawn to the word sensation and receptors. It was talking about physical reactions to something. When I pet a dog for example, I tend to get very happy and giddy. The chemical reactors in my brain released endorphins that reflect positivity. We tend to rely on animals, especially when in need of comfort, to aid with anxiety and depression-- service dogs are a great example. Then I got to thinking about this quote on page 77:
"Scientists can study people who are blind to learn more about vision, and people who are deaf or anosmic to learn more about hearing or smell, but this is virtually impossible to do with touch. Touch is a sense with unique qualities, but it also frequently combines with other senses."
Blind people have completely different lifestyles, they rely on touch way more than someone who can see; It's their own form of communication. I wanted to do an experiment where I'd try to write something out in braille and get a feeling of what their language is like. After writing a simple hello and poking the dots through with pencil, I was amazed at how something so simple can mean everything to someone. This got my train of thought going as to pop up books and images. I drew a picture of my dog and then used hot glue to make the outlines of it. If someone were to close their eyes and feel the image, there's a good possibility that they can eventually make out the picture.
