Haptic Affordance: A Study in Object Recognition and Feedback

Firefighters use the fire hose and hose couplings for navigation in burning structures that have low visibility due to smoke. However, current fire hose couplings are designed for a watertight seal but not for providing information to the firefighter. Fire-rated protection gloves reduce tactile sensation thus reducing the corresponding information perceived from objects, resulting in possible harm to the firefighter. This paper investigates the correlation between tactile information and how it is perceived, understood, and applied in high-stress firefighting situations. Research into visual and haptic perception as well as mnemonic learning methods was applied to the redesign of the fire hose coupling for non-visual, low-tactile-sensation situations to provide lifesaving information to firefighters.