EuroHaptics 2022 will host plenary sessions ranging from a keynote by a distinguished speaker to an opening reception, and an awards session.
Opening Reception
The opening reception will happen with a beautiful view on the harbor of Hamburg in one of the most famous hotels of the city. All participants are invited to join this event!
Keynote
Patrick Haggard, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
Title: New sensations from old receptors
Abstract: All haptic experience depends on specialised receptors that convert environmental stimuli into neural impulses. Different classes of receptor in skin, muscle and other tissues are tuned to specific thermal, mechanical and chemical events. However, most natural stimuli typically drive multiple receptor classes, so it remains unclear exactly how each receptor contributes to our experience of interacting with the external world. I will describe how designing stimuli that selectively activate a single class of receptors can afford key insights into several somatosensory experiences. First, researchers can study minimal “pure” sensations, and thereby unpick the different interactions between various combinations of sensations. Second, researchers can customise novel sensations. I will illustrate these approaches with experimental models, including: anomalous chemical stimulation of mechanoreceptors, perception of frequency-resolved vibrotactile stimulations, and the separate contributions of touch and kinaesthesia to haptic perception. An analytic approach based on understanding individual receptors’ contributions to sensation promises a predictive, as opposed to merely descriptive, approach to haptic experience.
Bio
Patrick Haggard leads the Action and Body Lab at Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London. He has been researching sensory and motor experience in humans for over 30 years, and has published over 400 scientific papers.
Awards Session
There will be multiple awards in the conference ranging from the typical presentation, poster and demo-awards to – most likely – some specific awards from entities participating.