"Kaleidoscopic in its reach, eclectic in its content, profound in its insight, and above all an evidence-based journey across a touch landscape few will have explored in such breadth and depth, by two cognitive neuroscientists with the perfect pedigree for such an ambitious task. This book will provide an invaluable resource-insights and references-for those researching in, or entering the field." Francis McGlone, Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK "From the first pages we are convinced that human touch is something we can't live without: it brings physical and emotional benefits to all of us. Gallace and Spence give an inspiring vision of the future for touch studies. They thoroughly cover issues relating to touch from reality to virtuality, giving us an insight into how touch works and how it can transform our virtual worlds into engaging multisensory experiences." Monica Bordegoni, Politecnico di Milano, Italia "Touch (for neuroscientists the somatosensory system, from receptors to the brain) has been somewhat 'neglected,' as compared with the visual system. This is bizarre since our own body is at least as important as our eyes, for getting in touch with objects around us. The book by Alberto Gallace and Charles Spence now fills this lacuna. In Touch With The Future...is dispensable reading for neurologists, neuropsychologists and, more generally, for any scientist concerned with how we get in 'touch' with the world and the many and diverse objects which populate it" Giuseppe Vallar, Professor of Neuropsychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italu Everyone who reads the book will gain an appreciation of the scope of the field and the way in which touch 'touches' our lives.

• TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 1: INTRODUCING THE SENSE OF TOUCH ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The fundamentals of touch: The organization of the somatosensory system ; 3. Tactile perceptual organization ; TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 2: THE HIGHER ORDER FACTORS THAT AFFECT TACTILE PERCEPTION ; 4. The awareness of touch ; 5. A memory for touch ; 6. Tactile attention ; 7. Caressing the skin: The social side of touch ; 8. Outside the boundaries of our bodies: The relationship between touch and the representation of the body in our mind ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 1: OVERCOMING THE LIMITATIONS IN TACTILE INFORMATION PROCESSING ; 9. Technologies of touch ; 10. Tactile and multisensory warning signals ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 2: ENHANCING THE AFFECTIVE DESIGN OF TOUCH ; 11. Touch in the marketplace: Selling by means of touch ; 12. Touch in the museum: Sculpture, art, aesthetics, and visual impairment ; 13. Touch in the bedroom: The role of touch in sexual behavior ; 14. Touch in the restaurant: A touch of gastronomy ; CONCLUSIONS ; 15. Touching the future ; References

"Kaleidoscopic in its reach, eclectic in its content, profound in its insight, and above all an evidence-based journey across a touch landscape few will have explored in such breadth and depth, by two cognitive neuroscientists with the perfect pedigree for such an ambitious task. This book will provide an invaluable resource-insights and references-for those researching in, or entering the field." Francis McGlone, Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK "From the first pages we are convinced that human touch is something we can't live without: it brings physical and emotional benefits to all of us. Gallace and Spence give an inspiring vision of the future for touch studies. They thoroughly cover issues relating to touch from reality to virtuality, giving us an insight into how touch works and how it can transform our virtual worlds into engaging multisensory experiences." Monica Bordegoni, Politecnico di Milano, Italia "Touch (for neuroscientists the somatosensory system, from receptors to the brain) has been somewhat 'neglected,' as compared with the visual system. This is bizarre since our own body is at least as important as our eyes, for getting in touch with objects around us. The book by Alberto Gallace and Charles Spence now fills this lacuna. In Touch With The Future...is dispensable reading for neurologists, neuropsychologists and, more generally, for any scientist concerned with how we get in 'touch' with the world and the many and diverse objects which populate it" Giuseppe Vallar, Professor of Neuropsychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italu Everyone who reads the book will gain an appreciation of the scope of the field and the way in which touch 'touches' our lives.

• TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 1: INTRODUCING THE SENSE OF TOUCH ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The fundamentals of touch: The organization of the somatosensory system ; 3. Tactile perceptual organization ; TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 2: THE HIGHER ORDER FACTORS THAT AFFECT TACTILE PERCEPTION ; 4. The awareness of touch ; 5. A memory for touch ; 6. Tactile attention ; 7. Caressing the skin: The social side of touch ; 8. Outside the boundaries of our bodies: The relationship between touch and the representation of the body in our mind ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 1: OVERCOMING THE LIMITATIONS IN TACTILE INFORMATION PROCESSING ; 9. Technologies of touch ; 10. Tactile and multisensory warning signals ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 2: ENHANCING THE AFFECTIVE DESIGN OF TOUCH ; 11. Touch in the marketplace: Selling by means of touch ; 12. Touch in the museum: Sculpture, art, aesthetics, and visual impairment ; 13. Touch in the bedroom: The role of touch in sexual behavior ; 14. Touch in the restaurant: A touch of gastronomy ; CONCLUSIONS ; 15. Touching the future ; References

"Kaleidoscopic in its reach, eclectic in its content, profound in its insight, and above all an evidence-based journey across a touch landscape few will have explored in such breadth and depth, by two cognitive neuroscientists with the perfect pedigree for such an ambitious task. This book will provide an invaluable resource-insights and references-for those researching in, or entering the field." Francis McGlone, Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK "From the first pages we are convinced that human touch is something we can't live without: it brings physical and emotional benefits to all of us. Gallace and Spence give an inspiring vision of the future for touch studies. They thoroughly cover issues relating to touch from reality to virtuality, giving us an insight into how touch works and how it can transform our virtual worlds into engaging multisensory experiences." Monica Bordegoni, Politecnico di Milano, Italia "Touch (for neuroscientists the somatosensory system, from receptors to the brain) has been somewhat 'neglected,' as compared with the visual system. This is bizarre since our own body is at least as important as our eyes, for getting in touch with objects around us. The book by Alberto Gallace and Charles Spence now fills this lacuna. In Touch With The Future...is dispensable reading for neurologists, neuropsychologists and, more generally, for any scientist concerned with how we get in 'touch' with the world and the many and diverse objects which populate it" Giuseppe Vallar, Professor of Neuropsychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italu Everyone who reads the book will gain an appreciation of the scope of the field and the way in which touch 'touches' our lives.

• TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 1: INTRODUCING THE SENSE OF TOUCH ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The fundamentals of touch: The organization of the somatosensory system ; 3. Tactile perceptual organization ; TOUCH IN THE LABORATORY 2: THE HIGHER ORDER FACTORS THAT AFFECT TACTILE PERCEPTION ; 4. The awareness of touch ; 5. A memory for touch ; 6. Tactile attention ; 7. Caressing the skin: The social side of touch ; 8. Outside the boundaries of our bodies: The relationship between touch and the representation of the body in our mind ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 1: OVERCOMING THE LIMITATIONS IN TACTILE INFORMATION PROCESSING ; 9. Technologies of touch ; 10. Tactile and multisensory warning signals ; TOUCH IN THE REAL WORLD 2: ENHANCING THE AFFECTIVE DESIGN OF TOUCH ; 11. Touch in the marketplace: Selling by means of touch ; 12. Touch in the museum: Sculpture, art, aesthetics, and visual impairment ; 13. Touch in the bedroom: The role of touch in sexual behavior ; 14. Touch in the restaurant: A touch of gastronomy ; CONCLUSIONS ; 15. Touching the future ; References