Black box analysis of the skin senses as a multiple communication channel.

The skin senses have been investigated as a multichannel parallel information system. In psychophysical experiments using two cold two warmth and two vibration stimuli the capability of these senses have been determined for transmitting independent parallel information. A black box model is used to describe interactions within the system between pairs of signals causing two different response components in a multiple response after multimodal activation. The theory distinguishes two kinds of interaction, those between internal noise sources and between internal signal sources. It appears that the skin senses show only a very small interaction of their respective noise sources whereas their signal sources interact extensively. The repercussions for the skin as a parallel information transmitter is discussed shortly in the context of a development of an optimum "skin vision" system, which should project an environment onto the skin, employing both the sense of touch and the sense of temperature.