After decades of research and development, haptic feedback is increasingly appearing in consumer products. While the prevalence of haptic feedback is increasing, the integration rarely offers increased fidelity to previous generations. We argue this is because of the tremendous complexity of successful haptic design engineering, but critically, also because of information saturation. With novel cutaneous feedback technologies and companies emerging almost daily, the multi-disciplinary nature of haptics and the marketing-driven terminology used to stand out in a crowded market makes it challenging to select and integrate actuators correctly. To manage this complexity and facilitate the interdisciplinary exchange of user requirements and material affordances, we introduce a novel classification criterion for haptic actuators focused on the bandwidth and fidelity of potential effects. We introduce vocabulary for describing the precise experience the actuators and corresponding systems should deliver. Lastly, we summarize currently commercially available cutaneous-based haptic technology. In the nearby future, the same criterion and language can also prove valuable for steering technology development of new and improved actuators and enabling novice and experienced practitioners to understand and integrate cutaneous feedback in their products.

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The enhancement of social inclusion is a key to maintaining cohesion in society and to foster the benefits of cultural diversity. Using insights from the Dual Identity Model (DIM) with a special focus on active categorization, we develop an intervention to increase social inclusion. Our intervention encourages the participants to (re-)categorize on a superordinate level (i.e., a human identity) while being exposed to their own culture. Across a set of experiments, we test the efficacy of our intervention against control conditions on the effect of social inclusion, measured by perceived social distance. Results show an increase in cultural closeness and provide preliminary support for the use of a DIM-based intervention to increase intercultural inclusion

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The variety of fruits and vegetables in today’s supermarkets is enormous. We investigated how color may lead consumers to anticipate differences in product properties. Forty volunteers rated the expected properties for carrots with different colors presented in pictures, together with their familiarity, purchase intention, and intended preparation method on 7-point scales. We found most positive expectations for the typical and most familiar kinds of orange carrots. Lower saturation of orange was associated with lower attractiveness and freshness, whereas higher orange saturation was evaluated as more artificial. Brown spots on carrots were associated with disease and such carrots were regarded less healthy. Carrots in atypical colors were rated as less familiar, attractive and healthy than orange ones. In comparison with the orange carrots, red carrots were expected to taste sourer and spicier, purple and yellow carrots were rated less nutritious and more artificial, with purple carrots expected to taste more bitter and yellow ones more sour. White and white-green carrots rated
lower on sweet, and higher on sour, bitter, and spicy. These carrots were considered less ripe and less nutritious than orange ones. These results indicate that color hue and saturation have substantial impact on consumers’
expectations about sensory and functional properties, including freshness and nutritional value. Some of these expectations may be derived from associations to other vegetables, as reflected by high ratings for spiciness (red pepper) and taste intensity (turnip, radish). However, low attractiveness ratings also suggest that consumers may be reluctant to try unfamiliar variants, at least at first glance. Although atypical colors produce culinary opportunities, commercial success may be limited until consumers integrate them in their everyday habits.@en

Ethiopia has a high road crash rate in the world. Among the crashes, more than 60% occur in the capital city, Addis Ababa. The main aim of this research was to inform policymakers and researchers about the current situations of road crashes in the city to tackle the current unacceptable costs of the road crashes. We analyzed road crash data between the years 2010 and 2014. The results showed 14,263 persons sustained different levels of injuries in which 1,911 were fatal whereas the rest were serious and minor injuries. Majority of the fatal (79%) and serious (76%) injuries were males, and pedestrians (87%). Most of these crashes were due to the drivers’ not yielding right of way to pedestrians. On the other hand, an estimated 19 million US dollars cost of property damage was due to the drivers not yielding right of way to other vehicles. Generally, among other risk factors we assessed including road conditions and asphalt pavement, drivers’ not yielding right of way to pedestrians and not yielding right of way to other vehicles were the leading risk factors for road crashes in the city.@en