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Main Authors: Balasubramanian, Jagan K., Vardar, Yasemin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23804
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author Balasubramanian, Jagan K.
Vardar, Yasemin
author_facet Balasubramanian, Jagan K.
Vardar, Yasemin
contents Modern audio-visual media rely on compact representations for efficient storage and transmission, whereas realistic digital touch still depends on high-resolution tactile recordings. Existing approaches for representing tactile signals constrain manipulation and limit the generation of new content. Here, we introduce two compact representations, spectral beta and spectral slope, that capture the temporal spectral structure of finger-surface friction signals while preserving perceptually relevant information. Spectral beta models spectral skewness using a two-parameter beta distribution, whereas spectral slope approximates the spectrum with an asymmetric bandpass filter defined by low- and high-pass orders. We evaluated these representations in a perceptual study with 14 participants using five virtual textures rendered on a friction-modulation display and compared them with physical textures and high-fidelity reproductions of recorded signals. Spectral beta achieved perceptual similarity ratings comparable to those of the original high-fidelity reproductions. Regression analysis further showed that matching spectral energy across nine critical frequency bands was the strongest predictor of perceived realism. Together, these findings suggest that tactile texture perception depends primarily on fundamental temporal spectral patterns and that modeling these patterns is sufficient for perceptually realistic rendering. These results establish an efficient and scalable framework for haptic compression, communication, and synthetic texture generation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23804
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Perceptually Lossless Tactile Texture Synthesis with Compact Spectral Envelope Models
Balasubramanian, Jagan K.
Vardar, Yasemin
Human-Computer Interaction
Signal Processing
Modern audio-visual media rely on compact representations for efficient storage and transmission, whereas realistic digital touch still depends on high-resolution tactile recordings. Existing approaches for representing tactile signals constrain manipulation and limit the generation of new content. Here, we introduce two compact representations, spectral beta and spectral slope, that capture the temporal spectral structure of finger-surface friction signals while preserving perceptually relevant information. Spectral beta models spectral skewness using a two-parameter beta distribution, whereas spectral slope approximates the spectrum with an asymmetric bandpass filter defined by low- and high-pass orders. We evaluated these representations in a perceptual study with 14 participants using five virtual textures rendered on a friction-modulation display and compared them with physical textures and high-fidelity reproductions of recorded signals. Spectral beta achieved perceptual similarity ratings comparable to those of the original high-fidelity reproductions. Regression analysis further showed that matching spectral energy across nine critical frequency bands was the strongest predictor of perceived realism. Together, these findings suggest that tactile texture perception depends primarily on fundamental temporal spectral patterns and that modeling these patterns is sufficient for perceptually realistic rendering. These results establish an efficient and scalable framework for haptic compression, communication, and synthetic texture generation.
title Perceptually Lossless Tactile Texture Synthesis with Compact Spectral Envelope Models
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23804